


When You Came Around, My World Felt New

by justyrae



Series: In Spite Of Me [1]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Alex just wants to talk to Willie 24/7 it's fine, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - circa 1995, Bobby just wants to be left alone tbh, Carrie is surrounded by idiots, Flirting, Flynn is always the comic relief because she's GREAT at it, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Julie is the voice of reason most of the time, Luke shouldn't be left to his own devices, M/M, Reggie tries very hard to talk to girls and gets Nowhere, Road Trips, Slow Burn, Sunset Curve Goes on Tour, Willie is an anxious mess but it'll all turn out okay, at least that's what their parents think, hashtag van life, if you actually read through all of these I'm sorry, so many tags so little time, someone is going to college, sorry forgot that one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:34:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 31,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28722186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justyrae/pseuds/justyrae
Summary: Willie loves going to shows. He didn't expect to fall in love with the drummer of a stupid pop punk band along the way.
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Series: In Spite Of Me [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2167389
Comments: 242
Kudos: 263





	1. Los Angeles

**Author's Note:**

> this is literally a love letter to my college days. willie is living MY DREAM!!!
> 
> anyway this all started because of a prompt i got requesting sunset curve fanboy willie and then it just sort of snowballed from there.  
> ([grace](http://williexmercer.tumblr.com), this is all your fault and thank you so much)
> 
> as far as the alternate universe goes - this is set in 1995 (or thereabouts) and obviously, everyone is alive. i'm aware of the paradox of having carrie and bobby exist at the same time as teenagers but let's just roll with that ok? her parentage is explained in chapter two and yes it's ridiculous but once again, let's roll with it!
> 
> hope you enjoy!

There's a bond that forms amongst the people in the crowd of a show. They may be complete strangers before the show begins and they'll likely go back to being complete strangers once it's over, but while it's going on they share a connection that's like nothing else in the world. They live, they _breathe_ for the music being played onstage for them. Musicians pour their blood, sweat, and tears into the music they make and the fans give it right back in the crowd.

And Willie loves every single minute of it.

In the grand scheme of things, he's by all accounts still technically a child. He's seventeen - _almost_ eighteen - and his parents only started letting him go to shows on his own last year. Mostly because they got sick of having to accompany him to seemingly every single tour that came to LA and they had a hard time telling him no.

By all accounts, Willie's far more responsible than most other kids his age. He does well in school, he has a weekend job at Amoeba Records that he never misses a shift for, and he never gets into trouble.

(Except for the random injury here and there due to flying elbows in mosh pits, but even those can't keep Willie down for long.)

In terms of veteran status of the punk rock club world within LA, Willie may as well be ancient. Not only does he constantly run into people he knows at shows (that he's met at _other_ shows), but he's gotten to know most of the staff at basically every venue in LA. It certainly helps that he's got a naturally bubbly personality and people just seem to _like_ him right off the bat.

He could use it to his advantage if he wanted to, especially when it comes to meeting the bands he goes to see. But Willie's never really been interested in _that_ side of the scene. He's content to show up, rock out, and go back home to wait for the next great gig.

That's not to say that he isn't recognized by bands he's seen a bunch of times. Every so often he'll come across some guy in some band he saw the week before and they'll give him a high five and tell him how awesome it was to see him having such a great time in the crowd. Willie usually brushes it off, turning the conversation back around to how good their set was and how he's looking forward to the next time they play a show. He's good at that. He just likes making other people happy.

But Willie's always looking for a new band to see. Something different, something maybe a little out of his normal musical comfort zone. He doesn't stick to one genre per se, but he definitely prefers some shows over others. Ska crowds are fun, everyone's generally pretty happy to be there. Punk crowds can get a little dangerous, maybe a little too wild, but it's always a hell of a show. Rock crowds tend to vary depending on the band, but Willie kinda likes it that way.

So when he sees a show flyer posted up outside Amoeba for a band he hasn't heard before, Sunset Curve, he rips it down and stuffs it in his pocket. When he gets home later that night he takes it back out, smoothing it out on the kitchen table and taking a closer look. They've got a slot at The Roxy in a few days and Willie is _definitely_ going to be there.

🤟🏼

Sunset Curve quickly becomes one of Willie's favorite bands to see live. It definitely helps that they play shows as often as they can, and Willie makes an effort to be at every single one. He constantly finds himself humming their songs while he's doing his homework, or when he's putting stock away at work. They're just _so catchy_ , they get stuck in his head for days on end.

They end up on the bill of a show at the Troubadour, one of Willie's favorite venues by far. He loves the intimate feel of it, and how easy it is to get lost in the crowd while still feeling like he's part of something. There's not a single bad place to stand in the whole of the venue.

Willie gets there after the doors are already open and a semi-large crowd has already formed on the floor. He makes his way into the middle, giving high-fives to people he passes by and stopping to chat with a couple guys he's seen at other Sunset Curve shows. They've already built up quite a following around the city, and there's a lot more girls in the crowd than Willie's used to seeing at the shows he goes to.

Truth be told, he thinks it's awesome. He just hopes that they don't get hurt if the crowd gets as rowdy as it usually does.

Not to mention, he totally gets it. Even if he was straight, he'd have to be _blind_ not to see that every member of Sunset Curve is super hot.

In retrospect, that's probably what he'll blame his momentary stupidity on. He can't be held responsible for his actions when around four very attractive guys. Also, it was the will of the crowd and who is he to deny that?

Their set starts like it usually does, immediately sending the whole room into a huge rush of energy that practically makes the entire venue shake. It's an absolute blast from the minute they start playing, and Willie totally gets caught up in it along with everyone else in the room. So when the guy next to Willie offers to lift him up and help him crowd surf, Willie's not about to say no!

He probably should've tried to pay better attention to where the crowd was sending him, but it's not always easy. Willie doesn't even realize he's too close to the stage until it's already too late and he tumbles out of the hands of the front row and onto the _actual stage_.

Now, given that the Troubadour has no barricade and the stage isn't _that_ far off the ground, Willie really has no other recourse than to tuck and roll, hoping for the best. It's a miracle that he misses the lead singer's microphone as he goes, but he can't manage to stop himself well enough before he knocks into the riser that holds the drum kit.

So when Willie springs up to his feet, he immediately locks eyes with the drummer who's staring at him in disbelief and utter confusion. In the few seconds he remains on stage, Willie does three extremely awkward things: he cracks a nervous smile, says "sorry!", and throws out a peace sign before whirling around and jumping off the stage and back into the crowd.

Honestly, it's a wonder he isn't thrown out of the venue and banned for life.

In spite of all of this, Willie continues to have a great time at the show. He stays in the crowd through the remaining sets but keeps any further shenanigans to a minimum. A tiny feeling of guilt manifests in the back of his mind after Sunset Curve's set and grows throughout the rest of the night, until the show is completely over and the venue turns the house lights back on.

It's then that Willie makes the decision to do something he's never actually done before. He's going to try and meet Sunset Curve, if only to apologize for nearly ruining their set. It's the least he can do.

Willie finds them all milling about in the alley behind the venue, signing autographs and chatting with some other fans as he approaches. Willie is perfectly content to wait his turn, but the lead singer spots him and immediately drops the conversation he was having to rush over to him.

At first glance, Willie's a little nervous that he's about to get punched.

"Dude!!" he shouts as he reaches Willie, lifting his hand up for a high-five that Willie cautiously returns. "That was insane! You're wild!"

Willie laughs nervously. "Yeah, that was pretty nuts."

"It was _so_ cool! Me and the guys have been talking about it all night." He turns around and gestures to the others to join them before he turns back to Willie and grins. "I'm Luke, by the way."

"I'm Willie," he replies, feeling only _slightly_ overwhelmed as the bassist and guitarist join them.

"I've seen you before! You were at the show last week!" The bassist grins and offers his fist for Willie to bump. "I'm Reggie, that's Bobby."

"Yeah," Willie says as he bumps his fist against Reggie's and then Bobby's. "You guys are awesome." He tucks his hair behind his ear and lets out another nervous laugh. "Sorry I almost took out your drummer."

"Oh, he didn't mind." Luke turns around and shouts, "right, Alex?!"

Willie starts to try and apologize further, but his words simply fail as Alex joins them. He wrinkles his nose as he looks at Luke, but when he turns to look at Willie his eyes widen.

"Oh. Hi."

"This is Willie," Reggie says as he leans his arm on Alex's shoulder.

"Be nice," Luke stage-whispers.

"What? I'm--" Alex huffs, "--always nice."

"I just-- I wanted to say sorry for earlier," Willie blurts out. "Just… uhh, got carried away."

"Literally," Bobby says with a snort, sending both Luke and Reggie into a fit of laughter.

Alex doesn't say anything, he doesn't even react to his bandmates' laughter. He just keeps looking at Willie, and the intensity of his stare is starting to make him a little uncomfortable.

"Well…" Luke says with a pointed clearing of his throat, "we're gonna go… over there." He jerks his thumb behind them and grins at Willie. "Cool to finally meet you, dude!"

"Yeah!" Reggie adds. "Do you want a shirt? I'm gonna get you a shirt."

"See you around, bro!" Bobby says as he follows Reggie. Willie's distracted for a moment and he misses whatever Luke whispers to Alex before he leaves the two of them alone.

"I really am sorry," Willie says, expecting that he's about to get a lecture or something.

"It's okay, really." Alex shrugs. "No harm, no foul."

"Okay. Cool." Willie nods. "I didn't want you to like, hate me, or something."

"No, I… I wouldn't--"

"Here you go!" Reggie says, reappearing suddenly with a white t-shirt in one hand and a CD in the other. "Size… medium? And… a copy of our demo..."

Willie laughs as he takes both, thanking him as Alex fixes Reggie with a pointed stare. They have a silent conversation with their eyes and Reggie slowly shrinks away, once again leaving them alone. Willie tucks the CD under his arm and holds the shirt up to himself, smiling down at it.

"Cool," he says.

"There's, umm, dates on the back." Alex rubs the back of his neck and Willie quickly turns the shirt over.

"No way! You guys are going on tour?"

"Yeah," Alex laughs, "it's in like two weeks, but I can't wait."

"That's awesome!"

"I can't believe it," Alex says, shaking his head as he stuffs his hands into his pockets. "It's like, everything we've ever dreamed of, y'know?"

Willie smiles. "Yeah, dude. That's incredible. Good for you."

"You should, like, come!" Alex blurts out. Both he and Willie freeze for a moment.

"I… what?"

"I mean, like, it's all around California," Alex stammers, "so like, if you wanted, you could come to a few shows. Or whatever."

Willie's still trying to process this information, and Alex apparently takes that to mean he should just continue rambling.

"Unless like, you've got other plans. Or like, work? I don't-- Obviously I don't know what you've got going on but you probably can't just like drop everything and come to our shows, but…"

"But?" Willie laughs nervously and gives Alex a hesitant smile. "But what?"

"But…" Alex shrugs a little. "It'd be cool if you did."

A flush blooms across Willie's face and travels all down his body. He can't believe Alex just said that and, what's even crazier, he can't believe he's actually _considering_ it.

"Okay," he says, laughing a little. "Okay, yeah."

"Yeah?" Alex repeats.

"Yeah," Willie says, laughing again. "I'll come."

"Cool." Alex smiles. "I should, umm… probably go…"

"Right, yeah." Willie smiles and busies himself with folding up his new shirt.

"But I'll see you around, right?"

"Right!" he replies immediately, feeling his cheeks get even redder. "First show on tour, I'll be there!"

"Awesome," Alex replies with a bright smile. "See you there."

Willie waits until Alex's rejoined his bandmates before he turns on his heel and starts making his way home, his mind going a thousand miles a minute. He has absolutely no idea why he just agreed to this, nor does he know _how_ he's going to ever manage to convince his parents to let him go.

It's far too late to do anything about it by the time he gets home, but he at least knows what he's going to do first thing tomorrow: he's going to call his best friend.


	2. Los Angeles Pt II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just remember that i warned you about carrie's ridiculous parentage ok????

Willie rocks back and forth on his heels as he waits outside Carrie's front door. It swings back a minute or so after he's rung the doorbell, and Carrie's dad smiles when he sees Willie.

"William!" he says jovially. "Nice to see you again."

"You too, sir." Willie smiles as he steps forward through the door.

"Sir," he laughs. "You can call me Caleb, you know. I don't mind."

"I know," Willie replies, "but…" He shrugs.

"Alright," Caleb replies, still smiling as he shakes his head. "Carrie's in her room, you know where it is."

"Thanks!" Willie says as he takes off for the stairs, bounding up them two at a time. Carrie's door is wide open when he reaches it, so he steps in and closes it behind him.

"I thought I heard an elephant in the house," Carrie says, smiling at Willie over the magazine she's flipping through. Willie grins and hops onto the foot of her bed, jostling her as he makes himself comfortable.

"Your dad asked me to call him Caleb again," he tells her and she rolls her eyes.

"God, he's _so_ weird." She leans back against her headboard and starts thumbing through her magazine again. "What did you want to talk about? You sounded weird on the phone."

"Okay, so…" Willie crosses his legs under himself and tucks his hair back behind his ears, ignoring the amused look on Carrie's face, "we're going on tour."

Carrie blinks. "Excuse me?"

"Well, okay, not like… that." Willie laughs a little. "But, like, sort of?"

"You're not making any sense."

"Sorry, right." Willie huffs. "Okay, you know that band I've seen like… a lot?"

"Yeah, what was their name…" Carrie snaps her fingers a few times. "Sunset… Swerve?"

"Sunset _Curve_."

"Same thing." Carrie waves her hand around. "What about them?"

"Okay, well, I saw them last night and Alex, the drummer, said--"

"You talked to them?" Carrie gasps and tosses her magazine aside. "You finally _talked_ to them??"

"That's not--"

"What did they say? Did they recognize you? Are they like, madly in love with you now?"

"Carrie," Willie says, dragging her name out in a slow whine, "that's not the point!"

"Fine," Carrie says with a huff, crossing her arms. "What's the point?"

"The point is, they're going on tour. And Alex told me I should go too."

"Like… with them?"

"Well… no." Willie's shoulders slump a little. "But he totally wants me there. Or, at least, it kinda felt like he did?"

Carrie puts her hand to her heart and smiles at Willie. "Oh my god."

"What? Don't--"

"You like him!"

"I--" Willie blushes wildly. "I didn't--"

"You do!!" Carrie giggles gleefully and claps her hands together. "Oh my god, you totally love him. You wanna have his babies!"

"Stop," Willie begs. He covers his face to hide the huge smile that refuses to leave his face and Carrie just keeps laughing.

"Alex and Willie sitting in a tree," she sings in a teasing tone, "k-i-s-s-i-n-g!"

"Can you focus, please?!"

"Okay, okay." Carrie rolls her eyes. "What were you talking about?"

Willie sighs. "Going on tour."

"Oh. Right." Carrie gives him a puzzled look and tilts her head. "And how were you planning on doing that?"

"Well…" Willie twists his fingers together and laughs nervously. "That's where you… and your car… come in."

Carrie's eyes widen. "Absolutely not."

"But--"

"Do you really think my dad will let me go follow some random band?? He'd totally freak!"

"Okay, but like, we just won't tell him that's what we're doing!" Willie hisses, glancing quickly at Carrie's door. "We'll make something up!"

"Like what?"

Willie hums as he thinks, looking all around Carrie's room for inspiration. He spots a couple of college brochures on her desk next to her bed and snaps his fingers as he points at them.

"That! Colleges!" He grins broadly. "We'll say we're going on a college tour!"

"A college tour," Carrie repeats flatly. "Where? What schools?"

"What?"

She crosses her arms. "Where are they even playing? If we're going to lie to my dad _and_ your parents, we have to have a convincing story. Otherwise they'll _never_ let us go."

Willie chuckles and unzips his hoodie, revealing the Sunset Curve t-shirt that Reggie gave him the night before. "Check it out," he says as he spins around on Carrie's bed and shows her the back with all the tour dates.

Carrie groans as she reaches over towards her desk, grabbing a notebook and pen off of it and quickly scribbles down all of the dates. Willie waits a few minutes before he turns back around, finding Carrie sighing as she looks down at the list.

"Well?"

Carrie looks up at him with an incredulous smile. "You are _so_ lucky. This might actually work."

"Really?" Willie says, his face lighting up as he scrambles to check the list.

Carrie goes over it with him and Willie's smile grows bigger and bigger as she rattles off a bunch of colleges in each city. She's right, this _could_ work.

"Except Fresno," Carrie says, wrinkling her nose. "Nobody goes to college in Fresno."

Willie rolls his eyes. "But you really think this could work?"

"Depends." Carrie clicks her tongue. "How long do we have?"

"Like… two weeks?" She hums.

"That might be enough time for us to get admission packets from a bunch of different schools. And our parents probably won't say yes immediately, but after a week or two…" She wiggles her head a little and shrugs. "It could happen."

"What if…" Willie says carefully, coming up with a hopefully brilliant idea on the spot, "we got reinforcements?"

"Who are you thinking about?"

"Julie and Flynn?" Willie nudges Carrie with his elbow. "The more, the merrier, right?"

"But--"

"And," Willie interrupts, "I think our parents will totally be on board if it's the four of us. It's more believable that way, right?"

Carrie slumps. "Yeah, you're probably right." She crosses her arms. "But if Julie doesn't go, I'm not going." A moment passes and she quickly adds, "and Flynn too. Obviously."

"I'll call them right now," Willie says as he slides off Carrie's bed, heading for the landline across the room. "You keep working on the list."

Carrie rolls her eyes and grumbles under her breath about having to do all the _real_ work.

🤟🏼

When Willie gets back home later that afternoon, it's with a pile of work to do. Carrie conned him into taking on half of the research for their "college tour" and he couldn't manage to talk his way out of it. He bypasses his parents and goes straight to his room, intending to get through his list as quickly as possible.

Unlike Willie, Carrie and Julie actually _went_ to the college fairs that their school held. Between the two of them they had the contact information for every school on the list, but it was now Willie's responsibility to write to half of them requesting actual packets on enrollment.

He manages to write out one request before he collapses onto his desk, whining pitifully into the wood about how tedious this all is. Lucky for him, a moment later he hears the phone ring in another room. His ears perk up at the sound, and a few seconds later his mom calls his name and tells him to come to the phone.

"Gladly," he murmurs as he hops up from his desk and jogs out of his room and down the hall to where his mom is holding the phone for him.

"It's Flynn," she tells him with a small smile as she passes the phone over. He smiles at her before putting the phone up to his ear, tugging the cord as far as it'll go to get a little space between himself and the family room.

"Flynn? What's up?"

"Hi! Okay, so." Flynn breathes out sharply and Willie fights the urge to laugh. "I couldn't say anything before because y'know, I was with Julie and you were with Carrie."

"Okay?" Willie laughs.

"But! Now that I have you on the phone like this, I can ask you what I was _dying_ to ask you all day."

"Which is…?"

"Are you trying to parent trap Julie and Carrie?!"

"I… what?" Willie laughs again. "I don't even know what that means."

"Parent trap! It's a movie!" She pauses for a moment and then huffs. "Okay, so it's an old movie from like, the 60s, or something. But whatever! You're totally parent trapping them."

"Okay?" Willie shakes his head. "What does that even mean?"

"Oh, it's a long story. Just know that you're totally doing it."

"Right. Sure."

"Also, is it true you finally talked to those guys?" Flynn's tone of voice changes and Willie's cheeks go red again.

"I am _not_ talking about this," Willie replies in a low voice as he peers around the corner to keep track of where his parents are.

"Okay, okay." Flynn sighs. "I'm proud of you, though. We all are."

"It's… it's nothing," Willie says as he scuffs his foot against the carpeted floor. "I don't even know if he's… you know."

"I know," Flynn replies, "but he invited _you_ , so that's gotta mean something, right?"

"Yeah." Willie sighs. "I hope so, anyway."

"Well, we'll be there for you. So, even if it sucks, you'll have us."

Willie chuckles. "Thank god for that."

"Yep. Now you just have to convince your folks." She snorts. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Willie says flatly, rolling his eyes even though she can't see him. "I'm hanging up on you now."

"Call me tomorrow!" Flynn hollers as Willie does exactly what he said he was going to do. He heads back to his room and sits down at his desk for a minute, tapping his pen against the top of it for a few seconds before he glances across the room at his stereo.

He gets up, taking off his hoodie and tossing it on the back of his chair before he crosses the room. The demo that Reggie gave him the night before is sitting on top of his stereo and he picks it up, opens the case, and takes out the CD so he can put it in the stereo.

Willie closes his door as the first track starts, keeping the volume at a reasonable level so his parents won't yell at him to turn it down. He goes over to his bed and lies down on his back, looking at the demo's case again once he's horizontal.

The cover is just their logo, the same one that's printed on the front of the shirt he's wearing. He flips it over and sees the short track listing, nothing too special. He clicks the case open again and takes out the booklet, gently tossing the case aside as he unfolds it.

A flush blooms in his cheeks as he's suddenly met with a _good_ photo of the four of them, but his eyes immediately dart to Alex. Willie closes his eyes and pictures Alex the night before, remembering the curve of his smile before he said goodbye.

Willie groans and sets the booklet aside, tossing his arm over his eyes. He's already in so deep and he's only talked to Alex _once_. How's he ever going to go to eight dates of a tour without making a total fool out of himself?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [pls feel free to send me any and all questions about this fic i love talking about it](https://astorytotellyourfriends.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Also, since apparently this is a foreign concept, “parent trapping” refers to essentially tricking two people into spending time together in the hopes that they realize they’re in love and get back together! the reference in the fic is to the original 1961 film “The Parent Trap” but I grew up watching the Lindsay Lohan version (which is CLASSIC and anyone who doesn’t understand the reference should watch it immediately) which came out in 1998.


	3. Santa Barbara

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY START OF TOUR!!!
> 
> i don't think there's any 90s specific references or slang that aren't self-explanatory but pls feel free to tell me if there is and i'll do my best to explain it lol

As excited as Willie is to leave to start this grand adventure, he doesn't understand why Carrie insists on leaving for Santa Barbara _so early_. One of the bonuses of summer vacation is _sleeping in_ and for some reason Carrie is hellbent on ruining that.

Granted, early is relative for a teenager. For Willie in particular, early is anything before one in the afternoon. And honestly, when Carrie told him she'd be at his house by ten in the morning, he thought she was joking.

But then she busts down his bedroom door at 10:03 and yanks his comforter clear off his bed and he discovers that no, she absolutely was not joking.

"Why aren't you ready?" she says angrily, chucking his comforter onto the floor. "We're supposed to get Julie in ten minutes and Flynn right after!"

"I…" Willie groans. "What time is it?"

"10:04," Carrie says with an annoyed sigh. "I was in your driveway at ten on the dot and you _weren't_ there."

"I didn't think you were serious," Willie admits as he sits up and rubs his eyes.

Carrie crosses her arms. "Are you at least packed?"

"Uhh…" Willie's eyes wander over to his duffle bag in the corner of his room. He'd meant to finish packing the night before, he really did…

"Seriously?!" Carrie grunts angrily as she storms over and grabs one of Willie's pillows. "This was your idea!" she hisses as she hits him with the pillow. "Why aren't you ready?!"

"St-Stop!" Willie snatches his pillow back and brandishes it at Carrie, who shakes her finger at him. He carefully lowers it, not willing to further incite her wrath. "Why are we leaving so early?" he asks with a groan. "The doors for the show don't even open until seven!"

" _Because_ our tour of UC Santa Barbara starts at one, and I want to make sure we have enough time to get there _and_ find parking!"

"Our… what?" Willie blinks. "Did you say tour of--"

"UC Santa Barbara," Carrie repeats as she crosses her arms.

"But… I thought…"

" _You_ might be okay with lying to your parents but _I'm_ not going to tell my dad that I'm doing something and then not do it!" Carrie smacks her hand against Willie's bed and snaps her fingers. "Get up, get dressed, and finish packing. I'm going to call Julie and tell her that _you're_ making us late!"

Carrie whirls around and storms out of his room. Willie groans loudly, wishing he could just curl back up under his covers and go back to sleep. But he knows if he doesn't get up right this second, there's no telling what will happen when Carrie comes back.

It takes all of five minutes for Willie to actually pack, considering most of his outfits consist of the same pair of jean shorts with one of like six shirts in a regular cycle. He's making his way to the bathroom on the other side of the hall when Carrie comes storming back down the hallway and he freezes like a deer caught in headlights.

"Are you packed?" Carrie asks as she crosses her arms.

"Yes," Willie answers, still slightly terrified of his best friend. "I was just going to… take a super quick shower."

Carrie raises one eyebrow and Willie laughs nervously.

"Five minutes. Promise."

"Fine," Carrie huffs, rolling her eyes as she goes through his bedroom door. Willie exhales sharply and continues into the bathroom, keeping to his word with a five minute shower.

When he comes back into his room with an armful of toiletries, Carrie is sitting on the foot of his newly-made bed. Willie snorts under his breath as he dumps his toiletries into his duffle, zipping it shut before he turns around to face Carrie.

"You didn't have to make my bed."

"Were you going to?" she asks, already knowing the answer. When Willie doesn't answer, she smirks. "Exactly. Now at least your mom won't have to do it while you're gone."

"My mom doesn't--" Willie pauses, shaking his head as he grabs his backpack from his desk and slings it over his shoulder. "You ready?"

" _Yes_ ," Carrie answers dramatically. "Finally."

They manage to make it out of Willie's house without too much of a delay from his parents. His dad remains fairly level-headed about the whole thing, but his mom doesn't quite share the same sentiment. It took a lot more convincing on her part to let him do this, but as soon as she said yes Willie knew she was going to try and backtrack.

"Bye, Mom! See you later!" he shouts from the car, hanging out the passenger window as Carrie reverses out of the driveway.

Whatever his mom says in return, Willie doesn't actually hear it, but he assumes it was something along the lines of _love you, be safe_.

"How was your dad this morning?" he asks as they start the drive to Julie's house. Carrie snorts a little, adjusting her sunglasses.

"He made me promise I'd call him at least once a day." She gives Willie a pointed look. "And since he's the one paying for the motel rooms, we're sticking to that."

Willie holds up his hands, signaling he has no quarrel with that. He unzips his backpack and takes out his zipper case full of CDs and Carrie preemptively groans.

"Just because you're riding shotgun does _not_ mean you get to choose the music," she says.

"What?!" Willie laughs. "That's exactly what it means!"

"As the driver, I reserve the right to veto!"

Willie groans. "You're gonna veto everything."

Carrie grins at him and Willie groans again.

"You promised you'd give my music a chance. You _promised_!"

"That doesn't mean I have to do it now," Carrie replies. "Besides, you're going to have to get the approval of Julie and Flynn, too. If we're all going to be cooped up in this car for hours on end, we all have to agree on the music."

Willie rolls his eyes, dropping his CDs back into his backpack. "Tyrant," he mutters under his breath, cracking a smile when Carrie gasps.

"Jerk," she replies, fighting a similar smile.

🤟🏼

After they pick up Julie and Flynn, the drive to Santa Barbara takes less than two hours. It's one of the shortest drives they'll have for the whole of the trip, but it's still plenty of time for Willie's nerves to get the better of him.

As the girls chatter excitedly about the trip as a whole, but primarily their first stop in Santa Barbara, Willie sits silently in the front passenger seat and stares out the window. It's irrational, especially since there's still a good six hours before the show even starts, but it's also especially annoying because Willie's never felt like this about a show before.

Even when he was going to his first show completely on his own, he was brimming with excitement. There's definite excitement somewhere deep inside him, but it's overshadowed by anxiety and Willie's finding it hard to reason with himself.

What if Alex wasn't serious? What if he wasn't actually inviting Willie to come see them? It could've been something he just says to fans and not specifically to him. Maybe Willie's blown this way out of proportion and he's about to make a total fool out of himself.

"Willie?" Julie says as she shakes his shoulder. He turns his head to see that she's curled around the back of Carrie's seat, looking at him with worry in her eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he answers with a nervous laugh. "I'm great!"

" _That_ was believable," Flynn says sarcastically as she joins the conversation, leaning forward similar to Julie. "What's up with you? You're never this quiet."

"Nothing," he replies, trying to avoid the judgemental looks from everyone else in the car. Even Carrie's looking at him with the sort of look he absolutely hates.

"You're not still mad about me waking you up, are you?" Carrie asks.

"No," Willie says. He's not, really, but it's a good enough cover for what he's really feeling that he switches gears. "I mean, sort of."

Carrie snorts as the other girls groan.

"This was your idea!" Julie says. "How were you not up all night from the excitement?"

"He was too busy dreaming about _Alex_ ," Flynn teases. All three girls start giggling and Willie starts feeling like maybe he's gonna throw up.

He turns back to the window, watching the scenery go by. Carrie reaches over and pats his knee consolingly and when he turns to her, she smiles at him.

"We've still got about half an hour," she says, "if you wanted to nap."

"Okay," he replies as he slouches down in the seat.

"But no complaining when we get to campus," she says sternly and Willie rolls his eyes.

"Yes, Mom."

Carrie squawks indignantly and the backseat erupts in raucous laughter, both Flynn and Julie having heard Willie's comment. He smiles to himself, momentarily forgetting about all his anxious worries about the show tonight.

Willie closes his eyes, not intending to actually fall asleep. The next thing he knows the door he's leaning against opens and if he weren't wearing his seatbelt, he definitely would've fallen out of the car and onto the pavement.

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty!" Flynn says, standing next to the door with a grin on her face. "Time to get _collegiate_."

Willie grunts as he takes his seatbelt off, seeing he's the only one still in the car. Julie and Carrie are standing on the other side of the car, lost in a conversation of their own while Willie pulls himself together.

Flynn hooks her arm through Willie's as soon as he's standing, and they trail after the other two as Carrie leads the way to the main part of the campus. Willie's still a little groggy from his abrupt wake-up call, but at least Flynn seems sympathetic.

"Are you excited about tonight?" she asks. Willie immediately feels his stomach drop and he tries not to grimace.

"Yeah?" he replies, more of a question than a statement.

"Yeah?" Flynn repeats in a similar tone, and then snorts. "Sure sounds like it."

"No, I am, but…"

"But what? This whole thing was your idea, I don't--"

"Can everyone stop saying that?" Willie says with a heavy sigh. "I know this was my idea, but… I don't know, now I'm starting to think it was a bad one."

"Hey," Flynn says calmly as she brings them both to a stop. "Don't say that. What's got you thinking that this is going to be anything short of amazing?"

Willie shrugs awkwardly, unable to come up with anything to say from all the thoughts swirling around in his head. He glances in the direction of Julie and Carrie, who are getting further and further away from them by the second.

"Shouldn't we…" He gestures after them and Flynn waves her hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about that, look at me. You can tell me anything, you know that, right?"

Willie sighs deeply. "I'm just… worried that maybe… this isn't going to be what I thought it was, you know? Like, what if I…"

"Made it all up in your head?" Flynn asks and Willie nods miserably. "Well…" she hums thoughtfully, looping their arms together again as she starts after Carrie and Julie. Willie goes along, agonizingly waiting for her to say something. "So what if it is?"

"What??"

"Okay, like, what if you misinterpreted what Alex said? What if he didn't actually think you'd come to the shows?"

"Then I'm going to look like an idiot!"

"No, you won't." Flynn rolls her eyes. "Even if he didn't mean it, you know he and the rest of the guys will still be excited to see you in the crowd. You just have to keep being yourself, and the rest will follow."

Willie takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly as he thinks over what Flynn just said. In theory, he knows she's right. But in practice… taking her words to heart is a little harder than he wishes it were.

"If you say so," he mumbles.

"I _do_ say so," Flynn replies brightly. "Now, uhh, pick up the pace. Carrie's totally buggin'."

Willie looks up and sees Carrie glaring at the pair of them, and both he and Flynn have to stifle their laughter as they jog to catch up. She quietly chastises them before turning around and greeting their tour guide with her classic bubbly personality.

Their tour of the campus takes a few hours, and Willie spends most of it towards the back of the group trying to come to terms with all the worried thoughts in his head and trying to take Flynn's advice to heart. If he keeps telling himself that everything will be okay, surely everything _will_ actually turn out okay. He just has to believe it.

He hasn't actually _started_ to believe it yet, but he's hoping that will happen sometime before the actual show starts. Otherwise, he's basically screwed.

🤟🏼

After the tour of UC Santa Barbara, the four of them find a motel not too far from the venue where Sunset Curve are playing later that night. Carrie's the one who checks in, given that she's the only one who's already eighteen and her dad gave her his credit card specifically for this. The other three hang out in the car in the parking lot until she comes back with room keys.

The first thing they do when they get into the room is call each of their parents in succession, mainly to let them know that they're all fine and that they made it to Santa Barbara without any issues. Carrie and Julie spend the longest amount of time on the phone, which just gives Willie more time to build up his nerves again.

They end up walking to the venue shortly after doors have opened, and Willie spends the entire walk over hoping that they don't run into any of the guys on the way. It's not like he can easily hide behind any of the girls, since he's taller than all of them.

"Remind me again what their music is like," Julie asks, spinning around and walking backwards so she can talk to Willie.

"If _someone_ ," he says pointedly, "had let me choose the music on the drive up here, you'd know."

"Isn't this part of the experience?" Carrie replies. "Haven't I had to listen to you talk about how great it is to hear a brand new band live for the first time instead of on CD?"

Willie blushes a little. "Still."

"We can listen to them tomorrow," Julie says brightly. "We'll have to learn the words so we can be more like Willie. He probably knows them all already," she adds with a soft laugh.

Once they're inside the venue, Willie's anxiety skyrockets to new heights. The venue's small, and he's been inside small venues before, but this one is _brand new_ to him. He doesn't know a single person milling around outside of his own group, and somehow that's making everything about this night even more terrifying.

"You okay?" Flynn whispers.

"Y-Yeah," he answers quickly, "why?"

"Because you froze like two steps into this place," she whispers harshly, pulling Willie out of the way before the people behind him shove him out of the way.

"Oh. Right." Willie laughs. "Just… y'know. Taking it all in."

"Where should we go?" Julie asks. "Right up to the front?"

"No," Willie answers immediately, shrinking a little as all three girls turn to look at him with matching curious looks. "I mean… I don't want you guys getting crushed if there's a pit."

"I second that," Carrie says.

"Third," Flynn says, raising her hand. "I'm not looking to get crushed tonight."

"So we can just…" Willie clears his throat, "stick to the back."

The other two seem satisfied with this idea, but Julie keeps giving Willie a weird look. Carrie and Flynn break off to secure a spot, leaving Willie alone with Julie and her judgemental eyes.

"What?"

"Nothing," Julie replies as she crosses her arms. "You sure you'll be okay staying out of the crowd?"

"Yeah," Willie shrugs his shoulders, "it's only the first night, right? We've got seven more after this."

"I know," Julie says, "but--"

"C'mon, we don't want to lose the others," Willie says quickly, spinning Julie around and leading her over to Carrie and Flynn.

Willie's heart starts pounding when the lights go down. In less than a minute, Sunset Curve takes the stage and the show kicks off, sending the whole of the room into a frenzy. They sound just as good as they have at every other show he's been to, but Willie can't deny there's something off.

It's not them, it's him.

It feels wrong not to be in the thick of the crowd, but Willie can't seem to force himself to move. He stays on the outskirts, towards the back with the girls around him. By the end of the first song, they're all giving Willie looks of approval and seeming to eagerly await the next song that comes up.

Willie, on the other hand, is already waiting for it to be over. For the first time in his life, he genuinely wishes he were anywhere but at a show.

"C'mon, let's go a little closer," Julie shouts during the third song of the set. Before Willie can say no, the other girls agree and follow Julie so that they're now standing along the back of the crowd. The venue is small enough that the crowd itself isn't too big, but there's still fifty or so people scattered throughout.

Willie swallows hard as he joins them, staying a step or two behind them so he maybe won't be visible from the stage. Since he's never been in a musician's shoes, he doesn't know how easy or difficult it is to actually see the whole of the crowd from the stage.

For all he knows, they can all see him plain as day. But he's hoping that maybe the lights don't reach him, maybe he's just a nameless face in the crowd like all of the other unknown fans.

He tries to keep his eyes off of Alex, but he keeps getting drawn back to him. It's involuntary, like his eyes don't know how to focus on anyone else but him. But every time he sees Alex look in his direction, Willie ducks his head.

By the end of the set, Willie's positively shaking.

"Can we go?" he asks, grabbing Carrie's shoulder.

"What?" She looks at his hand and then at his face, and where there was confusion in her eyes there's now just worry. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just… I need to go. Can we go?"

"Yeah," she answers quickly, tapping both Julie and Flynn and gesturing for them to follow. "C'mon, let's go."

"But--"

"Why--"

"We're going," Carrie says, a little harshly, but it does the trick. Julie and Flynn follow the other two without another word to the contrary.

"Does someone want to explain why we're leaving so early?" Julie asks once they're outside and a block or so away from the venue.

Willie stops in his tracks, having been the one in the lead. He turns around to face his friends, and his resolve crumbles. He feels stupid, ashamed, and totally lame.

"Sorry," he says as his throat catches. "I just… I couldn't--"

"It's okay," Carrie says sympathetically, immediately rushing to his side to comfort him. "It's okay, Willie."

Willie sniffs loudly as all three girls quickly surround him in a hug. It helps a little, but Willie still feels overwhelmingly stupid for how he just acted. It's hands-down the worst experience at a show he's ever had, and it's all his own fault.

"I think I saw a Ralphs around the corner from the motel," Julie offers. "We should go get ice cream."

"And chocolate," Flynn adds.

"And the motel has HBO," Carrie says, "we can just stay in the rest of the night. Maybe order a pizza or something to go with our ice cream."

"Ooh, yes!" Julie grins. "Good idea."

"What do you think, Willie?" Carrie asks, giving him a sympathetic smile. "Sound good?"

"Yeah," he says with a heavy sigh. "Sounds great."

Maybe the next show will be better. Maybe Willie won't let his dumb feelings get the best of him. If he can't get a handle on whatever this is, this whole next week is going to go from being the best to the worst of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [come talk to me on tumblr i swear i don't bite](https://astorytotellyourfriends.tumblr.com/ask)


	4. Santa Cruz

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so uhh i realized after i posted chapter three that i forgot a very important tag for this fic.... #slowburn. my bad. it's there now and uhhhhhhhhhh hope you enjoy!

The next morning begins eerily similar to the one the day before. Willie is woken up far earlier than he'd prefer, especially given how late they were all up the night before, by Carrie strutting around the room tidying up.

Willie groans as he flips over and sees Julie and Flynn in the other bed, looking like they feel the same as he does. Their sugar high from last night is coming back to bite them in a big way.

"What are you _doing_?" Flynn asks through a large yawn, watching Carrie walk back and forth between the beds with a horrified look on her face.

"While _you_ guys were sleeping in, _I'm_ making sure we can still leave on time."

"It's 9:15," Julie says as she points to the clock on the table between the beds. "That's hardly sleeping in."

"I agree," Willie says, pointing at Julie.

"Santa Cruz is four hours from here," Carrie says as she suddenly stops and crosses her arms. "You don't want to be late for our tour, do you?"

Willie, Flynn, and Julie all share a look.

" _Do you?_ " Carrie repeats.

"No," Willie answers dutifully for all three of them.

"That's what I thought," Carrie says as she flits off to the bathroom.

"Tell me again why we agreed to this?" Flynn wonders aloud after the bathroom door's closed behind Carrie. Julie knocks their shoulders together and shakes her head. Flynn rolls her eyes and does it back, while Willie lies back down and groans into his pillow.

"You feeling better, Willie?" Julie asks.

"A little," he admits, his face still half-smushed into his pillow.

"Round two tonight," she goes on. "You going to join the crowd tonight?"

Willie groans again and pulls the covers over his head. He's suddenly bombarded by pillows and he shouts, quickly poking his head out from under the covers as he begs Flynn and Julie to stop.

"No moping!" Flynn says.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that," Willie mutters. " _Not_."

Julie and Flynn both snicker, but their laughter is cut short when Carrie comes back out of the bathroom.

"You're not out of bed yet?!"

"I call dibs on the bathroom!" Julie shouts, immediately scrambling out of bed and taking off for the bathroom. Flynn groans angrily and flops back onto the bed, seemingly content to stay there until it's her turn.

Carrie rolls her eyes and jabs at Willie's foot under the covers. He shouts again, hastily pulling both of his feet out of her reach. "What?!"

"Come get breakfast with me," she says plainly, as though it should've been obvious.

Willie groans but pulls himself out of bed. Within five minutes he's dressed and heading out the door after Carrie, while Flynn shouts her requests at their backs. They make their way towards the lobby and make a turn into the dining room, heading straight for the continental breakfast.

"Nice spread," Willie whispers sarcastically to Carrie and she snickers in return.

Truth be told, it's better than either of them thought it would be, but it's still not that great. Carrie opens the bag she brought and, once she's made sure nobody's watching them, starts filling it with various pieces of fruit and a few muffins too. Willie watches with amusement as he grabs a couple pieces of toast along with a couple pads of butter and jelly, plus some disposable knives.

"Too bad we can't take one of these," Willie laments as he looks at the carafe of orange juice. Carrie hums as she looks at it, then glances around for an alternative.

"Grab some to-go coffee cups," she says, and Willie's face lights up with a smile.

"Sick," he replies as he follows her suggestion.

By the time they leave the room, the buffet table is looking even more sparse than before.

"I had no idea you were such a thief," Willie says in amusement as he and Carrie make their way back to their room.

"I have secrets too," Carrie says proudly, grinning at him. "You don't know _everything_ about me."

"No duh."

🤟🏼

They stop for lunch and a bathroom break just outside of Salinas, and when they all pile back into the car Carrie leans over and rummages through Willie's backpack until she finds his case of CDs. She drops it into his lap and smiles at him, leaving him utterly bewildered.

"Put on Sunset Curve," she tells him as she puts her seatbelt on, and both Julie and Flynn cheer from the backseat.

"Yeah?" Willie laughs. "You sure?"

"We've gotta learn the words," Carrie says, looking at Julie in the rearview mirror and smiling.

The demo only has three songs, but they spend the rest of the way to Santa Cruz listening to them over and over until all four of them know every single word.

Willie doesn't feel as anxious about the show tonight as he did the night before, but it may be because he's still trying to recover from the shame of how he behaved. He regrets not enjoying the show like he usually does, and he knows he has nobody to blame but himself.

But try as he might to tell himself that tonight will be different, there's still a little nagging voice in his head that says _not so fast_. His stomach turns at the thought of embarrassing himself again, and despite the joyous atmosphere in the rest of the car, Willie starts to spiral.

He tries to put on a brave face once they're at UC Santa Cruz, but he ends up trailing behind the group again just like he did the day before. Only this time, all three of the girls notice.

"What's wrong?" Julie asks as she gently touches Willie's arm.

He looks at her, and then at the other two, and tries to say that it's nothing. He doesn't want to ruin the tour, to let all of his and Carrie's hard work fall apart just because he can't get a handle on the thoughts in his head. But all that comes out is a strangled breath and a soft whine.

"Is this about last night?" Carrie asks with a sympathetic frown.

"Yeah…"

The four of them break off from the rest of the tour group outside McHenry Library and find a spot for them all to sit along the stone wall surrounding some trees. Willie feels awful for distracting them from the tour, and starts to apologize for it.

"It's okay," Carrie says, which surprises him. She lowers her voice and says, "I didn't want to go here anyway."

Julie and Flynn stifle their laughter, and even Willie cracks a smile.

"What Carrie _means_ is, you're more important," Julie says as she pats Willie's knee. "Tell us what's on your mind."

"I just feel dumb," Willie admits, "for how I acted last night. For being _nervous_ and weird and…" He sighs heavily and shakes his head. "That's not me. You guys know that's not me."

"You've got a crush," Flynn coos. "It's totally normal."

"I hate it," Willie groans. "I hate it!"

"There's only one thing you can do," Julie tells him. "You've gotta just try and be yourself."

"That's what I said!" Flynn says.

"Yeah, easier said than done." Willie huffs.

"You're right," Carrie says, balking a little when Julie and Flynn turn to look at her. "What? He is!"

"Yeah, but not helpful," Flynn hisses.

"And you telling him _be yourself_ is?" Carrie scoffs. "It doesn't change that his crush on Alex is keeping him from doing what he always does!"

"Okay, okay," Julie interrupts before Flynn can reply with a sassy comeback. "You two arguing isn't getting us anywhere." She sighs softly and turns to Willie. "What do you want to do?"

Willie sighs. "I don't know." He looks down at his hands and taps them against his thighs. "I wanted to go to their shows because I like the music, not just because…" His cheeks turn a little pink. "Well, you know."

Julie snorts. "So then enjoy their music! Jump into that crowd tonight and do what you do best. Be a fan. Don't think about Alex, or anybody else. Just pretend you're in your room listening to their CD or something."

"See?" Flynn says, mainly to Carrie. " _That's_ helpful."

Carrie rolls her eyes. "Willie?"

"It… sort of is?" He laughs a little. "I mean, no promises, but I think if I spend another night at the back of the crowd I'll lose my mind."

"Then it's settled." Flynn grins broadly. "Tonight, mosh pit."

"Mosh pit!" Julie adds excitedly.

"Oh, god," Carrie groans. Willie laughs and gives both Julie and Flynn high-fives.

"Mosh pit it is."

"I'm leaving you all here," Carrie snaps, but when Willie looks at her she gives him a smile and a wink to let him know she's just kidding.

🤟🏼

As they wait in line to be let into the venue, Willie's trying to psych himself up. None of the girls have made a single comment about how ridiculous he looks as he takes one deep breath after another and continuously snaps his fingers, but if he were actually looking at any of them he'd probably get embarrassed all over again.

"I've got this," he says as he finally looks up at them. "Right?"

"Right!" All three chorus together.

"It's just another show," Julie says.

"Just lose yourself in the music," Flynn adds.

"And have fun," Carrie says, "plus, we'll be right beside you."

"Right," Willie says with a sharp breath. "Yeah. This'll be great!"

While he's still a little nervous, Willie feels a lot more at ease as he walks into the venue. The overwhelming anxiety from the night before thankfully doesn't come back to haunt him, and he and the girls make their way towards the stage.

There's already a good number of people standing near the stage, which puts their group in what would be considered the fourth row. Randomly picking the left side of the stage, Julie and Flynn stand in front of Willie and Carrie, and he breathes a sigh of relief.

"Still okay?" Carrie asks as more people filter in behind them.

"Yeah. You?"

"Yeah," she answers, though she looks a little nervous as she glances behind them. Her eyes travel to the balconies above them, and Willie follows her gaze. "Maybe I should've gone up there instead."

"You'll be okay," Willie assures her. "I won't let anybody hurt you."

"I can take care of myself," Carrie says, but she looks relieved regardless.

"I know," Willie says, gently knocking his shoulder against hers.

"This is _close_!" Flynn hisses, mainly to Julie but the venue isn't so loud that Willie and Carrie can't hear her. "They're totally going to see us!"

"Shh!" Julie stares Flynn down with a pointed look, and Flynn shoots a quick look at Willie.

"I mean, if they even look this way. There are so many people, they probably won't even notice us," she says flippantly. Willie snorts and shakes his head.

"I'm fine," he tells her. He looks at Julie and repeats himself. "I promise."

"I know," Julie replies. "You're gonna have fun."

"We're _all_ gonna have fun," Flynn corrects.

Willie's thrumming with nervous/excited energy by the time the lights go down. This feels normal to him. He's used to that sort of feeling before a show, which makes him think that tonight really _will_ be okay. Last night was a total fluke.

He cheers loudly along with the rest of the crowd when the band comes onstage, but a lump in his throat forms when he sees Alex hop up onto the riser and takes his place at his drumset. He swallows hard and claps loudly to make up for it (and if he keeps his arms in front of his face a little too long, nobody else seems to notice).

This crowd turns out to be a little rowdier than the night before, but maybe Willie is more aware of it now that he's actually a part of it. Halfway through the first song Carrie shrieks when some random guy knocks into her, and Willie quickly swaps places with her to keep it from happening again.

Despite all the shows he's gone to and all the friends he's made through them, he's never really had to _protect_ anyone from the surrounding crowd. It's a little distracting from the show as a whole, but maybe that's also something Willie needed tonight.

He checks in with Julie and Flynn after the end of the first song, and while they were also jostled a little by the crowd, they're still in high spirits. Carrie, on the other hand, looks worse for the wear.

"I'm okay!" she shouts as Sunset Curve start playing their next song, entirely contrary to the fear in her eyes. "I can do this!"

"I know!" Willie shouts back, grinning widely at her. If nothing else, her determination will keep her right where she's standing.

Willie turns his head to look back up at the stage, and at that moment he makes direct eye contact with Reggie. There's a spark of recognition on his face, and then nods as he smiles widely at Willie, whose smile falters for a moment.

Julie must've witnessed the interaction, because as soon as Reggie looks away she turns her head to look back at Willie. He raises his eyebrows and gives her an awkward smile, hoping it conveys what he's currently thinking: _yeah, that was weird, but now it's over!_

He looks back at the stage just in time to see that Reggie's made his way towards Alex, but their voices are drowned out by Luke singing the second verse. Willie swallows hard and quickly looks away, closing his eyes as he tries to get back into the song and forget what he just saw.

It's not important right now; all Willie has to do is concentrate on the show and have a good time.

Repeating it in his head like a mantra, Willie manages to lose himself in the music and the sway of the crowd around him. Suddenly it's like he's back home in LA at the Roxy or one of his other favorite clubs, jumping and sweating and singing along with a hundred strangers to a band they all love. It's a total rush and it's exactly what Willie needs.

But the song doesn't last forever. There's a pause after it ends, giving the guys a chance to ensure their guitars are in the right tune for the next one. A couple of rowdy cheers echo through the crowd, and Willie makes the mistake of looking up at the stage.

Alex is staring right at him.

Willie feels Carrie slip her hand into his own, giving it a good squeeze as he stares back at Alex. Even though he feels like he should, he can't make himself look away. A small smile starts at the corner of Alex's mouth, growing larger the longer they stare at each other. When Alex's attention is finally stolen away, Willie realizes that his heart is _pounding_.

He squeezes Carrie's hand to let her know that he's alright, but neither of them let go.

Even though Willie's heard their set over a dozen times by now, he hardly remembers the rest of the one tonight. Every time Luke moves towards stage left, Willie's given the perfect view of Alex and his drums. And every single time, Alex is looking right at him.

Willie doesn't even notice that the rest of the guys have _clearly_ noticed that he's there as well. If he were actually paying attention, he would see enough winks and waggling eyebrows to make him blush for the next ten years, easy.

He's only snapped out of the trance when it's their last song of the night, and both Julie and Flynn scream as they launch into _Now or Never_. Willie laughs as they spin around and start singing at _him_ rather than at the stage, and even Carrie looks like she's having a good time.

Willie joins in the singalong, paying more attention to his friends than he does the band onstage. This is something he's only ever experienced with semi-strangers, since most of the people he sees at shows all the time aren't really his _friends_. It's a very different feeling of camaraderie amongst true friends.

Truth be told, it's something Willie wants to hang onto forever.

The whole venue erupts in screams and cheers when the song finishes and the guys exit the stage. Alex glances back over his shoulder one last time at Willie, smiling before he disappears into the backstage area.

"Oh my _god_!" Flynn screeches. "That was amazing!"

"That was _so_ fun," Julie agrees.

"Addicting, right?" Willie says, turning to Carrie. "Even you had fun."

Their hands are still clasped tightly together, and Carrie pats the top of his hand with her free one as she smiles.

"I think I'm starting to understand why you like this so much," she replies with a waggle of her eyebrows.

Willie immediately starts blushing.

"Can we please talk about that crazy eye contact between you and Alex?" Julie says. "He did _not_ stop staring!"

"Do you think they're gonna come and say hi?" Flynn asks as she flicks her hair back off her shoulder. "Should we wait?"

"No," Willie says quickly, surprising all three of them. "I mean… uhh… we don't have to."

"But--" Carrie starts, but Willie interrupts with a nervous laugh.

"I mean, we've got a bunch more shows, and, uhh--" he pauses to yawn, even though it's very clearly fake, "I'm sorta tired. We should probably go."

Carrie and Julie share a look, but surprisingly Flynn gives him a sympathetic smile and puts her hand on her heart.

"Baby steps," she says with a gentle nod of her head. "I get it."

"I don't," Julie and Carrie say simultaneously.

"Hush!" Flynn replies. "Baby steps!"

"Okay, you repeating that doesn't explain anything--" Julie says as Flynn starts pushing her away from the stage and through the crowd. Carrie rolls her eyes at Willie but follows the other two, tugging on his hand as he brings up the rear of the group.

He glances over his shoulder at the stage, even though he's certain he won't see Alex again tonight.

_Baby steps_ , he tells himself. Tonight was huge, and tomorrow might be even better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [in case u wanna yell at me about the slow burn i'm sorry](https://astorytotellyourfriends.tumblr.com/ask)


	5. San Jose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY ALEX MAKES HIS TRIUMPHANT RETURN! REJOICE! also sorry it took this long for him to actually come back into the fic for real lol
> 
> enjoy the shenanigans :D

The one good thing about such a short drive between Santa Cruz and San Jose is that their daily college tour is over and done with far earlier in the day than the two previous ones. This means that they get to explore a little bit more of San Jose than they did in both Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz.

Unfortunately for Willie (though to the great delight of the girls), they're not the only ones with a short drive that day. And by pure dumb luck, their little group manages to run into Luke and Reggie a couple blocks away from the venue outside a comic book shop.

Willie's the one who spots them first through the front window of the shop, and try as he might to make the girls hussle down the street, they're not fast enough. Luke and Reggie come out through the front door and immediately catch the girls' attention.

They don't see Willie at first, but Carrie latches onto the back of his shirt before he can get away, and when he turns around Reggie's face lights up.

"Bro! Look!" He turns to Luke and nudges him with his elbow. "It's Willie!"

"I have eyes, dude," Luke replies, rolling them at Reggie before grinning at Willie. "Thought we saw you in the crowd last night, with these _lovely ladies,_ of course."

Willie laughs nervously and tucks his hair behind his ear. He stays silent as all three girls share a look that entirely goes over Willie's head but he finds it amusing nevertheless. Neither Luke nor Reggie seem to notice it.

"Yeah! We were looking for you after the show," Reggie goes on, "well, it was mostly _Alex_ , but--"

Luke elbows Reggie sharply in his chest and Willie feels his cheeks turn bright red.

"We couldn't stay last night," Carrie says, inserting herself into the conversation and coming to Willie's rescue.

"Yeah," Julie says, going along with Carrie's lie, "we had other places to be, you know?"

"We're very busy," Flynn says, nodding her head.

"Oh." Reggie looks puzzled, as does Luke, who quickly asks, "well, are you coming tonight?"

"Yes!" Flynn says immediately. "Wouldn't miss it."

"Are you busy right now?" Reggie asks as he and Luke share a quick glance.

"No," Julie and Carrie answer together before Willie can say otherwise.

He hasn't said a word the whole time. His anxiety skyrocketed the second he saw the guys and the longer they stick around, the worse it gets. Willie can't even imagine what they're getting at, but he has a sinking feeling it's going to lead somewhere he's not ready to go.

Luke grins widely. "Good," he says, nodding his head towards the sidewalk behind him. "Follow us."

Julie and Flynn strike up conversation with Luke and Reggie as they walk, while Carrie keeps a tight grip on Willie's arm as they bring up the rear. Even though he doesn't know where Luke and Reggie are leading them, he's about ninety percent sure Alex is going to be involved.

"This is a bad idea," he whispers to Carrie.

"Why?" she whispers back. "Isn't this what you wanted?"

"No. Yes. Maybe?" Willie huffs. "I don't know. I don't do this - I don't _hang out_ with the bands I see."

"You also don't have a crush on the drummer of most bands you see," Carrie says, careful to keep her voice down so Luke and Reggie don't overhear.

"I don't--" Willie groans a little as he blushes even more, "it's not a crush."

"It's totally a crush," Carrie replies with a laugh. "And that's okay. It's okay to crush on a cute guy, Willie."

"Yeah, easy for you to say. I don't even know if he _likes_ guys." Willie huffs. "When are you going to crush on somebody so I can tease _you_?"

Willie glances at Carrie, fully expecting her to roll her eyes at him and make some sort of sarcastic remark. But instead, she looks away and tries to hide her face behind her hair, but it's no use. Willie sees the flush in her cheeks and his eyes go wide.

"Wait… do you have a crush??"

"No," Carrie says firmly.

"Dude." Willie starts giggling and Carrie smacks his shoulder, the two of them drawing the attention of the four in front of them.

Willie immediately stops laughing and Carrie gives them all a look of complete innocence, which satiates their curiosity for the moment and they turn back around to resume their own conversation. Carrie looks at Willie with a death glare, but he can't stop smiling.

"Is it Luke?" he teases.

"No!" Carrie says with a scoff.

"Reggie?"

"Still no."

"...Bobby?"

"Oh my god, no!"

Willie's nose wrinkles as he tries to think of who else it would be. "Then…"

"It's not any of _them_ , okay?" Carrie sighs. "Can we drop it?"

"Okay, okay, jeez. But you'll tell me later, right?"

"Maybe." Carrie's mouth twists in a smile. "If you talk to Alex."

Willie groans as Carrie laughs. "Harsh."

🤟🏼

Luke and Reggie lead the four of them back to the venue and around the side of the building to where their van is parked in the back alley. Try as he might to pull away, Carrie doesn't let Willie hide. He breathes a sigh of relief when he doesn't see Alex hanging around the van, only Bobby seems to be there.

Bobby's got his back to them as they approach, smoking a cigarette as he leans against the side of the van. Luke storms over to him and smacks the cigarette out of his hand, causing Bobby to spin around to glare at him.

"Dude--"

"You said you'd quit!" Luke says as he stomps on the cigarette. Bobby sighs heavily.

"I said I'd _try_ ," he replies, "you know I only smoke when I'm stressed! And Alex has been driving me up the goddamn wall and--"

Reggie clears his throat pointedly and Bobby suddenly realizes that Luke and Reggie didn't come back alone. He spots Willie at the back and gives him an awkward smile. He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out his carton of cigarettes, clearly about to light up another one despite the fact that Luke is still glaring at him.

"I'm gonna go get Alex," Reggie says, smiling at the group before he takes off for the stage door at a jog. Julie and Flynn both stifle laughter at the sheer absurdity of the situation as a whole, but their attention (along with Carrie and Willie's) is immediately stolen back by Luke and Bobby getting into a slap fight.

"Cut it out, man!" Bobby says as he slaps Luke's hands away from where they're trying to snatch the cigarette carton out of his hands.

"No more smoking!"

The slap fight evolves into a wrestling match before long, and the others give Luke and Bobby a wide berth to avoid being dragged in accidentally.

"Should we do something?" Flynn wonders aloud.

"Yeah, Willie, make them stop." Julie winces as Luke jabs his elbow into Bobby's stomach. "That's gotta hurt."

"I'm not getting involved," Willie says as he holds up his hands. "This is between them."

"Boys," Carrie says with a resigned sigh and a shake of her head.

"We could just go," Willie suggests, taking a step backwards before all three girls latch onto him.

"Absolutely not!" Flynn says.

"We came all this way, you're staying right here," Julie adds.

"Fine," Willie says, sighing in defeat.

They all turn back to continue watching the ridiculous display of testosterone in front of them.

"Should we be taking bets?" Flynn asks.

"My money's on Luke," Julie says immediately, "his arms are huge."

"True," Flynn agrees, "but Bobby's got spirit!" She laughs as he gets Luke in a headlock. "Yeah, get him!"

"Oh my god," Carrie groans and then mutters, "this is why I'm a lesbian."

Willie's only half-paying attention, but he manages to catch Carrie's comment.

"What?" he asks, turning towards her. She looks at him with wide eyes, and at that exact moment the back door of the venue opens again and out comes Reggie with Alex in tow.

"Look! There's Alex!" Carrie says, quickly drawing attention away from herself.

"What is… happening?" Alex asks as he sees his other two bandmates struggling. Bobby still has Luke in a headlock, but Luke's not going down or tapping out without a fight.

"Oh, they're just…" Julie waves her hand. "Don't worry about them."

"I… okay." Alex blinks. "Sorry, who are you?"

"I'm Julie."

"Flynn!"

"Carrie." With a grin, Carrie turns to Willie and gives him a small push forward. "And I think you already know our good friend, Willie."

"Y-Yeah." Alex smiles. "Hey."

"Hey," Willie replies. His cheeks started to turn pink the moment Alex looked at him, and the longer he looks the darker they get.

"Hey," Reggie says as he starts to corral the girls away from Alex and Reggie, "how would you ladies like to see the inside of a tour van?"

"My dad definitely told me not to get into vans with strange men," Flynn says, making Reggie immediately second-guess himself. "But, he's not here. So, sure!"

Julie rolls her eyes and gives Flynn a playful shove as Reggie yanks open the sliding door, and as soon as it clicks into place several bits of trash come tumbling out. Reggie quickly bends down to pick it all up as best he can, laughing nervously as he looks back at the girls.

"It's, uhh, not usually this messy."

"I'm sure," Carrie replies, her tone obviously unimpressed.

Willie bites back a laugh as he watches this all happen, and then slowly turns back to Alex. They're not _really_ alone, but with his friends paying more attention to Reggie than to them, and with Luke and Bobby still wrestling over a pack of cigarettes, it's probably as alone as they're going to get.

"I, umm, I can't believe you came," Alex says as he nervously touches the back of his neck.

"Well…" Willie laughs softly. "I said I would."

"Y-Yeah, I know. But…" Alex shrugs a little and Willie's smile fades slightly.

"Is… is it weird that I did?"

"No!" he says quickly. "No, I didn't mean it like that. I just… when I didn't see you in Santa Barbara I thought… maybe… you'd changed your mind."

"Oh." Willie hangs his head a little, looking down at the ground. "I, umm, I was there, actually."

"You were?" Alex tilts his head in confusion. "I didn't see you in the crowd…"

"I wasn't--" Willie sighs a little. "I stuck to the back. I felt kinda sick, so--"

"Oh." Alex frowns. "Were you okay? Was it--"

"No, it was nothing." Willie shrugs it off and tries to laugh. "I'm fine, obviously." He tucks his hair back behind his ear and clears his throat. "How, uhh, how's the tour been?"

"It's been good," Alex says, nodding his head. "It's… it's weird," he laughs, "like, I thought it wouldn't be that different from just playing odd shows around LA, but it's _so_ different."

"Yeah?" Willie smiles.

"Yeah, like…" Alex goes on to explain some random thing that happened to them the night before after the show and Willie patiently listens, but his mind wanders a little. Alex's passion for their music comes through full force, lighting up his whole face as he talks about it.

If Willie hadn't had a crush on Alex already, he sure as hell would have developed one now.

"It's just… so rad." Alex sighs in contentment, and then when he looks at Willie his smile turns a little bashful. "Sorry, did I just like, ramble nonsense?"

"A little," Willie admits, "but it was cute."

Alex's cheeks turn a little pink as Willie realizes what he just said.

"Cool, I-- I mean cool." He clears his throat and laughs nervously. Alex laughs a little, but keeps looking at him like he's waiting for Willie to say something else.

But Willie doesn't know what to say.

"Do you--" Alex starts to say, but he's cut off when the stage door opens again and a burly-looking man with a clipboard props it open.

"Sunset Curve! Soundcheck, let's go!"

Alex looks around for his bandmates, seeing all three of them - Luke and Bobby a little worse for the wear after their scuffle - start heading for the stage door.

"I should--"

"Yeah," Willie says quickly. "It's cool."

"But, I'll see you after?" Alex asks, hesitating as long as he can before he has to join his bandmates.

"Uhh, yeah?" Willie calls after him, unsure of what he's actually agreeing to. The door slams behind Alex a moment later, and the girls surround Willie.

" _See you after_?" Julie repeats with a knowing smile.

"I don't… it doesn't…" Willie hangs his head as his cheeks burn with embarrassment. "He was just being nice."

"Sure, he was." Carrie rolls her eyes.

"No more baby steps," Flynn says.

"I don't…" Willie blinks. "What?"

"No more running away, duh." Julie shakes her head. "You're so hopeless."

🤟🏼

True to their word, the girls don't let Willie run away after the show's over. Unlike the last two nights, they even stay in the crowd for the bands that play after Sunset Curve. But they _don't_ see any of the guys wandering around the venue between sets, which is something Willie can't decide if it's good or bad.

On the one hand, he wants to see Alex again. He wants to be able to hold a normal conversation with him without any judgemental eyes watching them. But on the other hand… he's still terrified of making an absolute fool of himself in front of Alex.

Willie can't help but feel like maybe if they were back in LA he'd have a better handle on this. At least there he'd feel comfortable in his surroundings, rather than facing so many unknowns on top of stumbling awkwardly through interacting with Alex.

Instead of cutting him some slack, life just continues to throw curveballs at Willie.

Reggie's the one who finds them again after the show, asking if they're ready to go.

"Go… where?" Willie asks. He turns to look at the girls, who all share identical looks of traitorous nonchalance.

"To… get… pizza?" Reggie says in a confused tone, like he can't decide if he's saying the right thing or the wrong thing.

"Surprise?" Julie says as she smiles at Willie.

"I…" Willie turns to look at Reggie and laughs. "I guess we're going to get pizza?"

"Hell yeah, we are!" Reggie says as he tosses his arm around Willie's shoulder and leads the way out of the venue.

They meet up with the other three at the corner, and as soon as Alex looks their way Reggie drops his arm from around Willie's shoulders. He clears his throat awkwardly and steps to the side, chuckling nervously.

"Looks like our friends like to meddle," Alex murmurs softly to Willie, who laughs in return.

"Looks like we might need new friends," Willie jokes.

"You don't mind, do you?" Alex asks seriously. "Because you don't have to--"

"No," Willie says quickly. "Alex, it's cool. It's just pizza, right?"

"Right." Alex breathes out a sigh of relief. "Yeah," he shrugs, "it's just pizza."

It is _so_ not just pizza. There's pizza involved, that much is true. But the meddling doesn't stop just because the group makes it to the pizza parlor. After ordering, they drag a couple of tables together so they can all sit, but before Alex or Willie can take a seat the others play a silent game of musical chairs. Soon, all of them are taken except for two at the far end, right next to each other.

"Subtle," Willie mutters to Carrie, who's seated on his right.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she says, fluttering her eyelashes at him before she turns to her other side to chat with Julie.

Willie and Alex smile at each other, but making conversation is suddenly harder than it's ever been before. Literally everyone else at the table slips into easy conversation, talking over each other and laughing about the most ridiculous and random things. Willie concentrates more on the glass of water in front of him than he does anything else as he desperately tries to come up with _something_ to say.

"It's, umm," Alex starts, blushing a little when Willie turns to look at him, "it's really cool that your parents let you guys do this."

"Yeah," Willie laughs, "they, uhh, don't know about it. Technically."

"What? How?"

"I couldn't exactly say, 'hey mom and dad, can I go follow a band around California?'" Willie snorts. "They'd freak."

"So what did you tell them you were doing?"

"We're on a 'college tour'," Willie says, using air-quotes.

"Excuse me," Carrie suddenly interrupts, catching not only Alex and Willie's attention, but _everyone's_ at the table. "We _are_ on a college tour."

"Really?" Luke laughs. "Why?"

"Do you really think our parents would let us follow you idi-- _guys_ ," Flynn coughs, "around? As if."

"What do you do at a college tour?" Reggie asks.

"Wander around the campus, mostly," Julie replies. "They're kinda boring."

"Are there _girls_?" Luke asks. "Like, _college_ girls?"

Everyone snickers; Alex and Willie share a look that makes Willie's heart swell.

"If you mean girls who go to college, then yeah," Julie says, clearly making fun of Luke's question. "There's even college _guys_. And _professors_ , too!"

"No, that's not--"

"She knows what you meant, dude," Bobby interrupts, shaking his head.

"What's the next stop on your college tour?" Alex asks Willie.

"Uhh, Berkeley." Willie shrugs a little. "Could be cool."

"Is that where you wanna go?"

"I don't even know if I wanna go to college, honestly," Willie says with a laugh, "but it's worth a look, right?"

"Right." Alex nods. "Totally."

"I've never been to a college," Reggie says. "I wanna go!"

"You--" Carrie blinks. "You wanna go?"

"Yeah!" Reggie looks at his bandmates. "Can we go?"

"No, we can't--" Alex starts to say they can't impose on the tour like that, but Luke immediately talks over him.

"Go spend the day checking out all the college gi--" Luke pauses briefly, remembering his current company, "-- _classes_?" He clears his throat. "Totally. Let's do it."

"Sweet!" Reggie cheers.

"Oh, my god," Alex groans, putting his head in his hands. "Sorry," he tells Willie.

"It's okay," Willie says as his heart flutters at the possibility of spending the day with Alex. Strangely, his nerves take no issue with this development. All he feels is excitement. "It'll be fun."


	6. San Francisco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> introducing sunset curve on (a college) tour! featuring shenanigans and lots of hopeless flirting between alex and willie. enjoy!

Carrie pulls into a parking spot exactly on time, according to the schedule she set for the four of them. She gave the same schedule to the guys, but definitely didn't expect that they'd stick to it. She fails to hide her haughty smile as the four of them climb out of her car, and she crosses her arms as she leans against the trunk.

"I knew they'd be late," she says with a huff.

"They'll be here," Julie says consolingly as she pats Carrie's arm.

"Yeah," Willie replies as he looks around, keeping an eye out for the van. "They'll be here."

"It's not _them_ I'm worried about," Carrie replies.

Willie turns to give her a confused look and Julie snorts.

"She's worried about being late for the start of the tour," Julie says.

"Aren't you?" Carrie says, stomping her foot a little.

"Honestly, I'm not expecting them to show up," Flynn says honestly. "I bet they overslept or forgot."

"Flynn," Julie hisses, pointedly looking at Willie and then glaring hard at Flynn.

"Oh--" Flynn smiles sympathetically and laughs, "I mean-- I'm sure they're on their way!"

Willie shakes his head and snorts. "Yeah, I'm sure they are." He glances around the parking lot again and then turns back to Carrie. "How much longer can we wait before we _are_ late?"

Carrie huffs as she checks her watch, but whatever she's about to say is drowned out by the sound of a particularly loud engine. All four of them turn to see a van barreling down the street, making a hard turn into the parking lot before it comes to a screeching halt and takes up at least four parking spots at once.

Not a one of them is surprised to see Luke behind the wheel.

"We're here!" he shouts, sticking his head out of the window before he opens the door.

Judging by the looks on the other guys' faces, they _barely_ survived the drive. Bobby clambers out of the front seat onto shaky legs, and both Alex and Reggie look very pale as they stumble through the open sliding door.

Luke struts over to the group with a big smile on his face, clearly unaware of the near-death experience he just caused for the rest of his bandmates.

"Are you sure you should park like that?" Julie asks as she side-eyes the van.

"It'll be fine!" Luke says, waving his hand at her. "I park like that all the time!"

"I bet you've got the parking tickets to prove it," Carrie remarks, sending the others into a fit of laughter.

Luke laughs sarcastically. "Joke's on you, the van's rented. Parking tickets don't count."

"That… is definitely not how that works," Flynn says.

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not," Flynn and Julie say in unison.

"Yes, it is!"

They continue arguing as the rest of the band make their way over, and Willie's heart swells when Alex comes over to stand near him.

"You okay?" he asks.

"Yeah," Alex exhales sharply and tries to smile, "just… good to have my feet on solid ground, you know?"

Willie snorts. "Maybe you shouldn't let Luke drive anymore."

"We've tried," Bobby remarks. "He's relentless."

"Clearly," Carrie says as she gestures over to where Luke is _still_ arguing about parking tickets with Julie and Flynn.

"Sorry we're late," Alex says, mostly to Willie.

"It's okay," Willie replies, even though he can feel Carrie glaring behind him. "I'm just glad you made it."

Alex smiles at him and starts to say something else, but Carrie halts all conversation when she shouts at the arguing trio.

"Will you stop?!" she shrieks. "All parking tickets count! You have to pay them! Now let's go before you _really_ make us late!"

She spins on her heel and starts marching off towards campus, and slowly the rest of the group trail after her. Luke looks like a toddler who's just had his toys taken away, especially when he's given another earful by his own bandmates.

"Parking tickets??" Bobby asks.

"Don't worry about it," Luke mumbles.

"How many parking tickets have we gotten?" Reggie asks, entirely ignoring the grimace on Luke's face, "because if we have to account for that, we definitely can't--"

"I said, don't worry about it!" Luke hisses.

Out of the four guys, Reggie seems to be the one who's the most interested in actually going on the tour of Berkeley. He quickly gets to the front of the group and walks alongside Carrie, who's closely followed by Julie and Flynn. Alex sticks to Willie's side and they trail a few steps behind the first four, and Luke and Bobby bring up the rear.

"So… I know last night you said you don't know if you even wanna go to college," Alex starts, and Willie immediately starts blushing.

_He remembered what I said_ , the hysterical part of his mind screeches. _He remembered!!_

In an effort not to get lost in the whirlwind of his own thoughts, Willie shoves that part down as deep as he can and forces himself to concentrate on what Alex is saying.

"But, like, if you _were_ gonna go, what would you study?"

"I…" Willie laughs bashfully, "man, I don't even know. I guess I haven't thought about it that much, but uhh maybe, like, science?"

"Oh. Cool."

Willie snorts. "Not your thing?"

"Uhh," Alex's voice goes a little higher than normal and Willie bites back a smile. "I mean, I wasn't ever like, really _good_ at science, but it always seemed cool."

"I took physics last year, and it was sick." Willie starts talking faster as he explains how his teacher once took the class to Magic Mountain for the day, presumably to see the principles of physics in motion, but really it was just to spend all day riding rollercoasters.

They obviously had to do some worksheets to show that they actually _did_ learn something, but even that was still pretty cool, at least to Willie. The longer he talks about it, the more he starts to think that maybe science - or even physics specifically - is starting to sound like something he really would like to study.

"So you're, like, a nerd," Alex blurts out after Willie finishes his story.

"I mean, yeah? I guess?" Willie laughs and Alex looks horrified with the words that just came out of his mouth.

"Sorry, I didn't-- It's not a bad thing, I--"

"Nah, it's no big." Willie laughs a little and tilts his head towards Alex as he adds, "not all of us can be cool drummers, right?"

It's Alex's turn to blush now, and Willie mentally gives himself a high-five. This is going way better than he could've imagined.

Alex glances over his shoulder, then does a double-take and stops in his tracks. Willie pauses, looking quizzically at Alex and then he follows his line of sight and realizes why Alex stopped.

Luke and Bobby are nowhere to be seen.

🤟🏼

Logically, Willie knows they should go and try to find Luke and Bobby. But he doesn't want to leave the tour and piss off Carrie, so he grabs Alex's arm and they rejoin the group at the back.

"I should know better by now," Alex grumbles as he continues checking over his shoulder for any sign of his missing bandmates. "I can't leave them alone for a _second_."

"I'm sure it'll be okay," Willie says consolingly. "We'll find them."

"Yeah," Alex replies, but he doesn't sound so sure.

"How much trouble could they even get into?" Willie jokes, though judging by the look on Alex's face, the answer is a lot. Willie's only known Luke for a short while, but if he's even half as chaotic as he seems then there's a decent chance he'll get both himself and Bobby into a heap of trouble without trying very hard.

"I should go look for them," Alex says. The tour group pauses outside of a building and Alex glances around like he's trying to figure out the best place to start. He hesitates for a moment, looking at Willie, who looks over at Carrie.

"I can't leave," he says as he gives Alex a sorry look. "Carrie would kill me."

Clearly having heard her name, Carrie suddenly appears at Willie's side.

"What's going on?" she asks in a harsh whisper. "Where are Luke and Bobby?"

"Funny you should ask…" Alex laughs uneasily.

Carrie sighs heavily and pinches the bridge of her nose. "Go find those idiots before they get us all kicked off campus, okay? We'll keep an eye on Reggie."

"Got it." Willie grins at her as she waves them away.

"She's really… intense," Alex says as he and Willie break off from the group. Willie laughs and shrugs his shoulders.

"Yeah, she is. She's my best friend, though, so I'm mostly used to it."

"Best friend," Alex repeats softly as he runs his hand through his hair. "So, like… are you guys like…?" Willie tilts his head curiously as Alex's cheeks turn pink. "I mean like, have you ever…?"

It takes a second for it to click in Willie's mind that Alex is trying to ask if he and Carrie have ever dated, and Willie's honest-to-god genuine reaction is to burst into laughter.

"No, no, no," Willie says as he keeps laughing, "dude, _no_. She's, uhh, definitely not my type, if you know what I mean."

Alex nods. "Not into blondes?"

"What?" Willie snorts, and his eyes immediately go to Alex's blonde hair. "No, I--" he laughs again, "I'm _definitely_ into blondes."

"Oh, good." Alex gulps. "I mean… good for you, obviously. I tend to go for, umm, brunets."

"Yeah?" Willie says, feeling his cheeks go red. He instinctively touches his hair, brushing it back behind his ear. Alex follows the movement with his eyes and when Willie notices, it suddenly gives him the confidence to ask the question that's _really_ on his mind. "Do you mean, like, girls… or…"

Alex's pace quickens a little which makes Willie worry he's said the wrong thing. He immediately regrets it and all the confidence he had a second ago vanishes. He starts walking faster to keep up with Alex, nearly running into him when Alex suddenly comes to a full stop.

"I, umm," Alex swallows hard and laughs nervously. "I'm… I'm gay."

Willie's brain goes absolutely haywire. He wants to scream with joy, to jump up and down and holler, to say this is the best thing Alex could've possibly told him. But nothing comes out, which leads Alex to start to worry that now _he's_ said the wrong thing.

"I'm not really _out_ ," he goes on. "Like, the guys know, and they're cool with it. But, umm, I haven't told a lot of people."

Willie's heart is fit to burst. Alex told _him_. He's _special_ , even if there's nothing really going on between them.

"And like, you seem cool and everything, but-- oh god," Alex groans as he suddenly covers his face, "you could totally hate me now and it's all my fault--"

"Alex, no," Willie quickly says, like his mouth and his brain finally agree that he should actually _say something_ before Alex spins totally out of control. "I totally get it. I-- I'm gay, too."

Alex slowly lowers his hands. "You are?"

"Yeah." Willie laughs bashfully. "I, uhh, haven't really come out yet either. Like, Carrie and the girls know but…" he hangs his head, "...that's basically it."

"Plus me."

Willie cracks a smile. "Plus you."

"I--" Alex starts, but at that moment both of them hear the faint sound of acoustic guitars coming from not too far off, and they both remember why they broke off from the group in the first place.

They wordlessly follow the sound, coming around the corner of a building to an open stretch of grass and there they spot Luke and Bobby busking. Alex sighs in relief and Willie laughs.

"Why am I not surprised?" Alex mutters.

"At least they're staying out of trouble?" Willie says as he gestures towards them. "And they picked a great song."

"Needs percussion," Alex says with a smirk, making Willie laugh again.

Luke and Bobby make it through the first verse and chorus of Alanis Morissette's _You Oughta Know_ to the delight of the small crowd of (mostly) girls that's gathered in front of them. Willie and Alex watch from afar, neither one keen to disrupt the groove they've got going.

Unfortunately, it all starts to fall apart during the second verse. They can't seem to decide on the correct lyrics, which leads to an argument that makes everyone around them feel _very awkward_. It soon devolves into a similar scuffle as the one Willie witnessed the day before outside the venue, and Alex groans.

"Not again," he mumbles as he starts jogging in their direction to try and break up the fight before either of them gets hurt.

Alex manages to diffuse the tension, separating Luke and Bobby and making them sit at opposite ends of the stretch of lawn until they both calm down. Willie slowly makes his way over as the dust settles, but Luke doesn't seem to want to give up so easy.

"This is stupid," Luke grumbles, playing an angry, discordant chord on his guitar.

"I've told you a million times, you act like a child and you get treated like one!"

Luke sticks his tongue out at Alex and plays the chord again before turning his back towards him. Alex takes a deep breath and turns to Willie with an apologetic smile.

"I swear, they're not usually like this." He exhales slowly. "Well, not all the time."

"It's okay," Willie says with a laugh. "Never a dull moment with Sunset Curve, right?"

"Right." Alex shakes his head. "Sorry you had to miss the rest of the tour."

"Don't even worry about it, no biggie." Willie waves his hand. "I don't think Berkeley is a good fit for me, anyway. And if I'm gonna go to college, it's gotta feel right." He shrugs his shoulders. "And so far I don't think I've found _it_ yet, you know?"

"Yeah?" Alex cracks a smile. "Not a fan of NorCal?"

Willie shrugs. "It's cool, but there's a lot to love about LA, you know?"

"Totally," Alex says, and he gives Willie a look that sends a shiver down his spine. "Maybe UCLA would feel right?"

"Maybe." Willie shrugs again and stuffs his hands into his pockets. He and Alex smile at each other, but the peace and quiet is soon interrupted by Luke trying to sneak away.

"Luke," Alex groans angrily, "I swear to god--"

🤟🏼

Willie, Alex, Luke, and Bobby wait at the van for the others to finish with the tour rather than trying to find them on campus. Luke and Bobby have been ignoring each other for the last twenty minutes or so, which makes standing in close proximity fairly awkward.

The four of them stay mostly silent, though for Willie it's agonizing to feel like he can't continue talking to Alex like they have been all day. It wouldn't even matter what they talked about because now everything is different. There's a clear connection between them and Willie just wants _more_.

When the others finally show up after the tour's ended, Reggie's the first one who comes running up to them with a huge smile on his face.

"You guys missed all the fun!" he says breathlessly, looking amongst all of them with bright eyes and a wide smile.

"Enjoy the tour?" Alex asks as he shares a look of amusement with Willie.

"Oh, yeah! Guys… I think I could really see myself here." Reggie nods his head, and then turns around to face the girls. "Don't you think??"

Carrie and Flynn don't even try to make it seem like they agree with him, but Julie tries to indulge him as best she can.

"Yeah?" she says, looking at the guys with pleading eyes.

"I don't think any of us are really college material, Reg," Luke says gently.

"Really?" Reggie says as he turns back around with a frown.

"You don't know that!" Julie says as she puts her arm around Reggie's shoulders. "Maybe Reggie would be great! He could be a savant!"

"Yeah!" Reggie agrees. He clears his throat and then, very quietly, whispers to Julie, "what's a savant?"

Julie closes her eyes and sighs, patting Reggie's shoulder. "Never mind," she whispers back.

Everyone snickers except Reggie, who looks disappointed as Julie drops her arm from his shoulders. Bobby steps forward and pulls him into a playful headlock, mussing up his hair a little.

"You'd have to quit the band to go to college," he says as Reggie tries to get out from under his arm, "and nobody quits, bro."

"Yeah," Luke agrees, "no quitting allowed."

Reggie grunts, finally freeing himself from Bobby's grip and smoothes back his hair. "Alright, alright! No college." He adjusts his jacket and sighs. "But I want it on the record that I _could_ go to college, okay? If I wanted to."

"Okay, Reggie," Alex says in a patient tone.

"I'm serious!"

"There's not--" Alex groans. "Okay, it's on the record."

"Thank you," Reggie replies with a smile. "Now… uhh… who's hungry?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [come chat with me i'm always bored](https://astorytotellyourfriends.tumblr.com/ask)


	7. Sacramento

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if y'all were mad at me before for the slow burn..... you're probably really gonna hate me after this one.

Willie should've expected the onslaught of teasing he's subjected to the next day. It's his own fault for having told the girls everything that he and Alex said to each other, even if he was made to do it under extreme duress (at least, as far as he's concerned). Willie is definitely not one to write off any threat that comes out of the mouth of any of his friends.

He's relieved that the guys don't join them on their tour of UC Davis, especially since Flynn spends the _entire_ tour pointing out various spots he could use to make out with Alex. Julie and Carrie are absolutely no help and even join in on occasion, which is deeply troubling for Willie. At the very least he was relying on Carrie to shut them up, not join in.

"Shouldn't you be telling them to be quiet?" he hisses to Carrie as he follows her lead into the library.

"Maybe," Carrie answers with a smirk, "but then I'd miss out on your adorable reactions."

"I hate you." Willie smacks her hand away as she tries to pinch his cheek.

"You love me."

"Definitely not."

"Please," Carrie rolls her eyes, "without me, you and Alex wouldn't be _this close_ ," she pinches her fingers together, "to kissing, so I think you totally love me."

Willie grumbles under his breath as his cheeks turn a dark shade of pink. He can't argue with her logic, no matter how much he wants to.

"Speaking of kissing," Flynn whispers, clinging to Willie's arm. "I bet there are some _great_ spots in the library."

"Oh my--" Willie groans. "Shut up!"

The teasing eases up a little after the tour is over and they find a motel near the venue to check into. Willie opts to take a shower before the show, mostly to find some peace and quiet. It serves as further fuel for the girls to tease him, but luckily once he shuts the bathroom door and the fan kicks on, he's met with blissful silence.

Willie knows it's all in good fun, and he'd be doing the same thing if he were in their shoes. He briefly wonders if Alex is getting the same treatment from the guys, or whether they have more tact than that. Willie makes eye contact with himself in the mirror as he thinks that, and immediately cracks a smile and shakes his head.

_No way, they're probably even worse_.

There's a flutter in his chest when he thinks about the show tonight and wonders about what might happen. He's hoping for a repeat of the night before, but this time with a little more follow-through.

Apart from Alex making eye contact with Willie every time he could, of course. Willie couldn't tear his eyes away from Alex either, so he supposes he really can't fault the girls for teasing him so much. He's so very clearly head over heels for Alex, it's ridiculous.

There _was_ a moment the night before that sticks out in Willie's mind. After the show, he and the girls had joined the band for a quick bite to eat at a nearby diner. The meal itself was reminiscent of the night before when they'd all gone out for pizza, but what Willie remembered most of all happened in the parking lot afterwards.

The two of them had left the diner while the rest split their time between using the restrooms and making sure the bill was paid. None of them seemed to mind when Alex and Willie slipped away, or if they did for once they didn't voice it out loud.

Willie was thankful for this, considering he half expected to exit the diner to a chorus of wolf-whistles and cheers even though _nothing_ had even happened between them. Not that he wasn't hoping it was going to, but at the same time Willie wasn't trying to get his hopes up.

They walked in comfortable silence back towards the van, parked only a few spots away from Carrie's car. Alex led the way around so that they were hidden from view of the diner, which made Willie's heart speed up. If something was going to happen, surely this was going to be the time.

"So…" Alex said as he leaned against the van's sliding door.

"So…" Willie laughed a little as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels. "Officially halfway through the tour."

He groaned internally at himself for saying something so totally lame, but Alex didn't seem to mind. In fact, his face lit up.

"Yeah, it's crazy, right? I can't believe it's already half over." He looked down at the ground, scuffing his shoe against the pavement. "I'm, uhh, really glad you decided to come."

"Me too," Willie answered with a smile. "It's… been a lot of fun so far."

"Yeah?" Alex laughed softly, shifting a little closer. "Today wasn't too much?"

"Well…" Willie grinned, "it's definitely never a _dull_ moment around you guys…"

"God," Alex groaned as he pressed his back against the van and laughed, "you can say that again. I just hope we make it through the rest of this without Luke and Bobby killing each other."

"Yeah, uhh," Willie glanced back over his shoulder, "are they like, okay?"

"Honestly, couldn't tell you." Alex shook his head. "They're not usually that… violent?"

Willie snickered, setting both of them off into a fit of laughter. After it subsided, Alex turned to face Willie again and gave him a shy smile.

"I meant it," he said softly. "I'm glad you came."

"You asked me to," Willie said honestly. He shrugged his shoulder slightly and chuckled under his breath. "Why wouldn't I?"

Alex's mouth twitched as he nodded, his eyes darting down and then back up to meet Willie's. There's a pause, and that's when Willie suddenly thought _this is it_!

Only, at that same moment, a raucous cheer echoed across the parking lot and Alex suddenly stumbled backwards into the van in surprise, almost falling over completely. Willie pressed his hand to his face and huffed out a laugh as he helped Alex right himself, just in time for the rest of the group to make their way around the van.

"Let's go!" Luke hollered as he jogs past them, heading for the front passenger seat.

"I, uhh," Alex swallowed hard and ran his hand through his hair, "I guess we'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Willie replied, awkwardly waving at Alex as he steps back, narrowly avoiding running into Reggie. "Later."

"Bye!" Reggie replied brightly as he reached for the sliding door, totally unaware of what they just interrupted.

As cringeworthy as the ending was, Willie can't help but get full body goosebumps when he thinks about the almost kiss. It totally could've happened if they'd had just a minute or two more time alone.

The bathroom mirror is entirely fogged up by the time Willie gets out of the shower, and when he wipes away the condensation he catches sight of his flushed reflection. Willie turns away from the mirror, biting his lip as he finishes drying off with a towel and starts getting dressed.

Maybe tonight he'll just… go for it. If someone's gotta make a move, why not him?

🤟🏼

When the four of them get to the venue, they find Reggie and Alex waiting for them outside the main doors. They both have a slightly panicked look about them, which makes Willie a little nervous.

"What's going on?" he asks with a nervous laugh. "You guys look like you've seen a ghost or something."

"This is _way_ worse!" Reggie says with a huff.

"What happened?" Julie asks.

"We, umm," Alex sighs heavily, "we were hoping you guys might… that is, if it's okay with you--" Alex gestures to the girls, "-- _all_ of you, obviously, uhh…"

"Spit it out!" Carrie snaps. Both Alex and Reggie flinch and Willie stifles a laugh.

It's not _really_ funny, the effect she has on them, but it's a little funny.

"Can we stay with you guys tonight?" Reggie blurts out.

All three girls share looks before Carrie scoffs out a laugh and tilts her head.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"It's just--" Alex grunts uncomfortably, "--remember yesterday when Luke mentioned his parking tickets?"

"Yes…"

"Well… turns out there were, uhh, more than we thought." Alex clears his throat. "A lot more."

"A _lot_ ," Reggie adds for emphasis. "It totally messed up our budget!"

"You guys had a budget?" Flynn asks, sounding half confused and half impressed.

"Of cour--" Reggie throws his hands up and sighs. "Why wouldn't we have a budget?"

"You guys don't seem very…" Julie hesitates, "...organized."

Reggie crosses his arms and frowns.

"That's--" Alex gives Reggie a placating look and pats his hand. "The point is, we can't afford a motel so… we were hoping you guys might take pity on us?"

He looks pleadingly at Willie, who immediately turns to Carrie. It's mostly her decision, since it's her name on the record and her dad's credit card on the bill. Carrie takes a deep breath as she crosses her arms, weighing the question in her head even as Julie and Flynn turn to look at her as well.

"No funny business," she declares. "And you're all sleeping on the floor."

"That-- yes! Yes! No problem, oh my god," Alex replies in a rush, looking like he's about to drop to his knees and grovel at Carrie's feet, "thank you so much."

"Seriously," Reggie says, also looking incredibly grateful, "you're a lifesaver."

"I mean it," Carrie says, her eyes darting to Willie and then back to Alex. "No funny business."

"Scout's honor!" Reggie says as he salutes Carrie. She rolls her eyes, but smiles anyway.

"We'll go tell the others," Alex says before turning to Willie with a smile. "See you in there."

"Bye," Willie replies, blushing even as Alex and Reggie disappear around the corner. He turns back towards Carrie and the others, and they're all wearing identical smiles. "What?"

"Alex and Willie sitting in a tree," Julie sings teasingly.

"Carrie said no funny business!" Willie protests.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G," Flynn continues and Willie gives Carrie a pleading look.

"I was absolutely serious," she says, smirking at him as she spins around and starts heading for the venue doors. "No funny business in the room!"

"I--" Willie groans as he throws his hands up in frustration. Julie and Flynn start cackling as they follow Carrie, leaving Willie to catch up.

_I need new friends_ , he thinks to himself as he jogs to join them, heading into the venue with his heart beating wildly at the prospect of what could happen later that night.

🤟🏼

A layer of sweat covers Willie's whole body when they exit the venue later that night, and he knows it's not because of the mosh pit. Now that the show's over he's one step closer to spending the night in the same motel room as Alex.

Willie offers to stay behind and direct the guys to the motel while the girls go on ahead and try to figure out exactly how they're going to fit eight people in one room. They see through him right away, even though he wasn't exactly trying to be subtle, but they let him go without too much trouble.

"Don't take too long," Carrie says before she follows Julie and Flynn as they start heading for where she parked her car.

Willie exhales sharply before he turns around and heads to the back of the venue where Sunset Curve's van is parked. The sliding door is still open and Alex is standing nearby, waiting for him. Willie's heart starts beating a little faster as he approaches, but his face goes a little pale when he notices that Luke is behind the wheel.

"Uhh… is that…" he gestures vaguely to Luke, who frowns when he sees Willie giving him a nervous look. Willie drops his voice and whispers to Alex, "is this a good idea?"

"I--" Alex groans softly. "He, uhh, won't give up the driver's seat."

"I'm not a bad driver!" Luke shouts.

"Right." Willie nods and Alex laughs nervously.

"Just… wear your seatbelt," Alex says as he gestures for Willie to climb into the van.

He does, and finds Reggie in the very back with Bobby sitting up front with Luke. He awkwardly smiles at them as he slides onto the far side of the middle row seat, immediately buckling his seatbelt as Alex climbs in and shuts the door. The van's engine roars as Luke starts it up, not waiting for Alex to finish buckling his own seatbelt before he starts guiding the van out of the alley.

Alex flails his hand out for balance, landing on top of Willie's in the middle of the seat. They lock eyes for a moment and Alex smiles, but then he pulls his hand back to finish buckling his seatbelt. Willie slowly drags his hand back across the seat, folding both of them in his lap and pressing his back against the seat for stability.

Thankfully it's a short drive from the venue to the motel, but it's definitely one of the scariest of Willie's life. California drivers - LA drivers in particular - are known to be terrible, but Luke is by far the worst Willie's ever seen.

"See?" Luke says as he puts the van in park. It lurches forward a little as he takes his foot off the brake and turns around to grin at the backseat. "Easy."

"Right," Reggie pipes up from the back. "Easy."

"You okay?" Alex murmurs to Willie as they take off their seatbelts.

"Y-Yeah," Willie replies. He swallows hard before he follows Alex's lead and climbs out of the van. His legs are a little wobbly but he doesn't collapse, which is definitely a good thing.

He's absolutely never riding in the van again with Luke behind the wheel.

"Okay," he says once the guys have grabbed their bags and locked up the van, "this way."

Willie's hand shakes as he grips the railing on the stairs leading up to the second floor of rooms, but it's nothing compared to the pounding of his heart. He has to remind himself that this is totally fine, it's not like they're sharing the room _alone_ , there's gonna be six other people! He's going to be just fine as long as he can actually keep it together.

Carrie answers the door when Willie knocks, and she smiles at him. She steps aside to let him enter, Alex following right behind. She lets each of the guys pass through with the exception of Luke, who happens to be at the very end of the line.

"I--" Luke's face falls when Carrie stops him, like he genuinely thinks she's about to not let him into the room at all.

"Did you learn your lesson?"

"I… what?"

"What did you learn?" she asks pointedly, staring him down until he sighs heavily.

"Don't get parking tickets," he mumbles.

"Good." Carrie crosses her arms. "How many spots are you taking up outside?"

"That's not--"

"How many?"

Luke sighs. "Three."

"Nope." Carrie flicks her finger around in a circle. "We're fixing that."

"Oh, come on!"

"Do you _want_ your van towed?" Luke frowns. "I didn't think so. Let's go!" Carrie spins around and smiles at everyone else, who watched that whole exchange with looks of utter amazement. "Be right back!" she says cheerfully, pulling the door closed behind her.

"Uhh… this I gotta see," Julie says as she quickly slides off of the bed closest to the door and runs to catch up.

"Me too!" Flynn says, following Julie out. Reggie shrugs and joins them, while Bobby shakes his head.

"I'm heading straight for the shower," he mumbles as he flashes a peace sign at Willie and Alex before disappearing into the bathroom and closing the door behind him.

Alex and Willie turn to look at each other, both of them realizing at the same time that they've been left alone.

"Carrie scares me," Alex says. Willie immediately laughs, breaking the tension.

"Be glad you're not Luke."

"Oh, yeah, definitely." Alex nods furiously and then looks around the room. "So… where should I…?"

"Oh, umm," Willie glances around and points to the bed closest to him, "well, that one is Flynn and Julie's, and that one--" he points to the other, "--is mine and Carrie's, so…"

"Right." Alex clears his throat and heads for the far side of the room. "I'm, uhh, surprised she lets you… you know…"

"It's, uhh," Willie _hates_ that he starts blushing but he can't stop it, "it's really nothing. I sleep like the dead, so…"

"Yeah, no, I know." Alex chuckles softly. "I usually have to share with Reggie. He's a kicker."

Willie snorts. "That sounds… terrible."

"Yeah," Alex shakes his head, "it's not great."

"Well, if you claim that spot," he says, gesturing to the carpet to the right of the bed, "then you'll be next to me. Promise I won't fall out of the bed."

Alex makes a sort of strangled noise, but tries his best to cover it up with a laugh. "Dibs," he says as he drops his bag.

Before Willie can say anything else, the door bursts open and Julie, Flynn, and Reggie come running inside.

"What the--" Willie nearly gets knocked over in the shuffle as the other three try and make it look like they've been in the room the whole time.

"Shh!" Flynn whispers harshly. "We can't let Luke know we were watching!"

"He'd _hate_ it," Reggie whispers conspiratorially. Willie looks over at Alex, who nods.

"He would."

A few minutes later, Carrie and Luke come back into the room. She looks very pleased with herself while Luke's glaring daggers at her back.

"Who's hungry?" Julie suggests, trying to ease the tension.

"Ooh!" Reggie says, immediately raising his hand, and the others follow.

🤟🏼

It's hours before everyone settles down to go to sleep. Willie's body feels exhausted but his mind is wide awake, keeping him up long after everyone else has apparently fallen asleep. He can hear Carrie's level breaths next to him, along with the sound of someone snoring across the room.

He rolls onto his side and pulls the pillow under his head closer to his face, shutting his eyes tightly and willing himself to fall asleep. A few minutes pass and he opens his eyes again, staring at the wall across from the bed.

Willie pulls himself to the edge of the bed and peers down at Alex. He looks to be asleep, his eyes closed as he lies on his back with the comforter from Willie and Carrie's bed wrapped around him. Willie's mouth burns as Alex's name sits on his lips, begging to be whispered.

He wants him to wake up. He wants Alex to open his eyes and to look at him. He wants Alex to reach up and kiss him.

But Willie doesn't say a word. He rolls onto his back and sighs heavily, pulling the pillow out from under his head and presses it against his face.

Sleep evades him for another hour or so, but when he finally drifts off it's with Alex's smile on his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [my tumblr, in case you wanna yell at me](https://astorytotellyourfriends.tumblr.com/ask)


	8. Fresno

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm just gonna say one thing - i told you, nobody likes fresno.

Willie wakes up to the sound of Carrie shrieking. It startles him so that he bolts upright in bed, wincing as he tries to open his eyes to see what's going on.

"I told you _one_!" Carrie says, and Willie rubs the sleep out of his eyes just in time to witness her smacking a bagel out of Luke's hand.

"But I'm hungry!" he protests through a mouthful.

"The lady at the front desk was already suspicious when I grabbed _eight_ bagels," Carrie goes on, "so I'm not going back down there to grab more because you can't help yourself."

"Maybe I'll just go myself," Luke mutters, snatching a banana off the desk before Carrie can smack him again.

"Morning," Alex says, grabbing Willie's attention away from the breakfast debacle. He's sitting in a chair next to the bed, and Willie's face flushes as he smiles at Alex.

"Morning." Willie laughs sheepishly and stretches. "Did you… sleep well?"

"Yeah," Alex says with a nod, then he pauses and shrugs a little, "well, as far as sleeping on the floor goes, it wasn't bad."

"Sorry…"

"No, no!" Alex quickly adds. "Don't be. It's way better than sleeping in the van, believe me." Alex gives him a soft smile, and Willie's heart skips a beat. "How'd you sleep?"

"Uhh…" Willie turns away slightly and laughs as he remembers how long it took him to fall asleep. "Pretty good. I--"

Willie's interrupted by Luke pounding on the door to the bathroom and shouting Reggie's name.

"C'mon! We gotta go!"

Willie turns back to Alex and is met with a sympathetic smile. "You guys have to go?"

"Yeah," Alex answers, "we have to make sure to get to the venue by a certain time for soundcheck. Then we just… sort of… wait around til the show."

"Glamorous," Willie teases lightly.

"Totally," Alex laughs. "Maybe you guys can come hang out?"

Willie's heart skips another beat and he smiles. "Yeah, uhh," he glances quickly at Carrie, who's currently distracted by a chat with Julie over bagels, "I don't think we have a college thing today."

"Cool." Alex smiles. "We'll probably be hanging out by the van, so…"

"We'll find you," Willie answers, giving Alex another bashful smile.

"Cool."

"Bro," Bobby says, pulling Alex's attention away from Willie, "time to go."

"Yeah, okay--" Alex looks at Willie once more, and Willie awkwardly waves. "See you later."

"Yep," Willie answers lamely, regretting it the moment it leaves his mouth. He waits til Alex's back is turned to grimace, and as soon as the door shuts behind the four of them, he collapses back onto the bed and groans loudly.

"That went well, I think," Flynn comments from the other side of the room.

"Shut up," Willie moans.

"You should just kiss him already," Carrie says, getting nods of agreement from the other two girls. "He totally wants you to."

"How do you know?"

"Seriously?" Julie snorts. "It's _obvious_."

Willie sighs. "Maybe… I mean, there was, like… a _moment_ in--"

"What?!" All three girls screech at the same time and the sound is positively deafening. Willie nearly falls off the edge of the bed as he scrambles to cover his ears.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Julie demands.

"What happened?!" Flynn asks.

"Tell us everything!! Now!!" Carrie scrambles off of the other bed and climbs onto Willie's, smacking at his legs under the covers.

"Okay, okay! Stop!" Willie laughs as he sits up, pushing his hair out of his face as he starts to recount the moment outside the diner in San Francisco.

"Aww," Flynn coos after Willie finishes the story. "That's so cute!"

"Okay, but like, it's been almost two whole days!" Julie groans. "Why didn't you just kiss him yesterday?!"

"I wanted to, but…" Willie gestures at all of them, "when exactly was I supposed to do that?"

"Uhh, hello?" Carrie scoffs. "Maybe when I was teaching Luke how to park the van correctly??"

"She's got a point," Julie says, "you totally had the room to yourselves."

"Missed opportunity," Flynn adds, shaking her head.

"Yeah, thanks." Willie huffs. "I got it."

"You really are hopeless," Carrie says as she pats his knee. "It's kinda cute, really."

"Yeah, it's cute, but do you know what would be cuter?" Flynn asks, turning to stare pointedly at Willie before she adds, " _actually kissing Alex!_ "

"I know!" Willie groans. "I'm trying!"

"Do or do not!" Julie says as she tosses a pillow at Willie's head. "There is no try!"

Everyone pauses to look at her and she laughs nervously.

"Sorry. Reggie would _not_ shut up about Star Wars yesterday."

Carrie snorts and shakes her head with a fond look on her face. Flynn rolls her eyes, immediately forgetting about Julie's new nerd status.

"Focus!" she says, snapping her fingers at Willie. "Tonight, your mission is to _kiss Alex_."

"Okay," Willie says with a sharp breath. "I can do that. It shouldn't be that hard, right?"

"Considering it's taken you this long?" Carrie says sarcastically. Julie elbows her hard and she puts on a smile. "You can do it!"

Willie scoffs a little. "Right," he says flatly. "No big deal," he murmurs under his breath.

🤟🏼

The girls' supposed pep talk continues on the drive down to Fresno. For two and a half hours all Willie hears about is how cute he and Alex are together, how Alex is _totally_ in love with him, and how Willie needs to just hurry up and kiss him.

While he secretly (mostly) agrees with all of this, he's never going to be able to actually act on it if they don't shut up and give him a chance to calm down. His face is permanently red from all of their fussing and it seems incredibly likely that he's never going to stop being so flustered.

"Okay!" he shouts suddenly, cutting off Julie in the middle of a sort-of daydream about some ridiculously distant future she's apparently planned for him and Alex.

"What?" Julie frowns. "You don't like Beverly Hills? Fine, you can live in Malibu."

"That's not--" Willie groans and shakes his head. "No, just-- enough with the daydreaming." He sighs. "What I need is a concrete plan for _tonight_ , not…" he waves his hand around, "...whatever it was you were planning."

"Just your _whole perfect life_ ," Flynn says as she rolls her eyes, "but sure, whatever."

"Baby steps," Carrie says, smirking at the backseat through the rear view mirror.

"I can't just go up to Alex and kiss him, I--" Willie sighs, "--I have to have a plan."

"Isn't that a plan, though?" Flynn tilts her head. "If you think about it?"

"That's--" Willie makes an annoyed grunt. "What if the other guys are around?"

"You make up some excuse to get Alex alone," Julie says.

"Like…?"

"Tell him you have something to show him," Carrie suggests. Willie turns to give her an incredulous look and she gasps. "Not like _that_!"

Julie and Flynn burst into laughter and Willie leans forward, hiding his face against his legs in embarrassment.

"Dirty, dirty mind!" Carrie lightly smacks Willie's shoulder.

"You said it!" Willie cries.

"Oh, my god," Carrie mutters, shaking her head as she puts both hands back on the steering wheel.

"Don't worry," Flynn says as she reaches forward to pat Willie's shoulder after he leans back against his seat, "we'll help you come up with a real plan."

"Should I be worried?" he asks, glancing at her using the rear view mirror. She and Julie look at each other and then back at Willie.

"Probably," Julie replies honestly.

When they finally get to Fresno (after stopping for lunch along the way), their first order of business is finding a motel. Having mentioned earlier that Alex invited them to hang out at the venue before the show, Willie counts it as a blessing to have a small bit of respite before they actually go to the venue.

The plan that they came up with isn't much of a plan at all, but it's better than nothing. Willie's going to approach the van first, alone, to get Alex's attention. Then he's going to make up some cool store that just happens to be around the corner or something, and give a signal to the girls to go distract the others so that they can slip away without any company.

Willie hasn't quite figured out what he's going to do after making up something that doesn't exist, but he does hope that Alex won't be too upset about being lied to and the plan will still end in kissing. The girls seem to be confident that it will, even if Willie isn't.

He feels like his heart's in his throat when they finally make their way over to the venue. If he's this nervous _now_ , how's he ever going to actually going to speak to Alex, let alone kiss him?! If the girls weren't on either side of him, Willie would likely turn around and go hide in the motel until the show starts.

"Trust us," Flynn says as she reaches over and pats Willie's hand, "this is gonna work."

"It can't _not_ work," Julie agrees.

"If you say so," Willie mumbles.

"C'mon!" Carrie snaps her fingers. "Confidence! You _know_ Alex likes you. This is you just… helping him to the next step." She smiles at Willie. "You'll be glad you did."

"I know, I just…" Willie sighs. "This is big."

"I know," Carrie says, giving him a sympathetic smile. "Your first kiss," she whispers softly.

"I think Alex is perfect for your first kiss," Julie says. "He's cute, he's funny…"

"He's a hot drummer in a really good band," Flynn says, sighing dreamily. "It's really too bad he's the only sane one."

Willie snorts. "They're not that--"

"I know you're not about to say, _they're not that bad_ ," Carrie scoffs. "Luke is _literally_ an animal."

"It's not about them," Julie says, cutting off both Carrie and Flynn before they can say anything else about Alex's bandmates. "It's about Alex and Willie." She smiles at him and puts her arm around him so she can give him a hug.

"I'm not getting out of this, am I?" Willie asks.

"Nope!" Julie grins.

"Okay," Willie says, taking a deep breath as the venue finally comes into view. "Here goes nothing."

"We'll be right here," Carrie says as they come to a stop at the edge of the venue. There's an alleyway next to it leading around to the back, and the four of them peer around the corner and spot the Sunset Curve van. "Just signal when you want us to come over."

"Okay," Willie answers with a shaky breath. "This is fine, I've got this. I'm totally cool, right?"

"Absolutely," Flynn says as she gives him a thumbs-up.

"The coolest," Julie agrees.

"Remember," Carrie says with a reassuring smile, "we're right here."

Willie takes a deep breath before he turns around and takes a step forward. He turns the corner and continues walking, telling himself _it's just one foot in front of the other, no big deal_. He's totally got a handle on this and everything is going to be fine.

He glances back at the girls, who are poking their heads around the corner. They all give him big smiles and thumbs-up before they hide again, and he laughs under his breath.

As Willie gets closer to the van, he realizes that it's not the only car parked back here. There's a station wagon parked nearby with an older couple standing nearby, along with two younger kids and a guy who looks to be around Willie's age. Bobby's with them, chatting with who Willie assumes to be the dad.

Willie's pace slows considerably when the back door to the venue suddenly swings open and out come Luke, Reggie, and Alex. The older woman opens her arms to welcome Reggie with a hug, rocking him back and forth as Luke and Alex split up.

Luke grabs both kids and picks them up under each arm, whirling them around as they scream with delight and giggle. But Willie is more concerned with Alex, who made a beeline for the other guy. They immediately go for a hug, and Willie stops dead in his tracks as his heart plummets into his stomach.

"I can't believe you came!" he hears Alex say. "It's so good to see you, I've missed you!"

The guy laughs and says something to Alex that Willie can't hear, but it doesn't matter anyway. He keeps his arm hooked around Alex's shoulders even after they stop hugging, and Willie can't bear to look at them for another second.

He turns around and starts walking back towards the street, trying to go as quickly as he can without drawing any attention to himself. When he makes it back around the corner, all three of the girls surround him with matching looks of confusion.

"What's wrong?" Flynn asks.

"What're you doing??" Julie asks, sounding frustrated.

"Willie…" Carrie says gently once she sees the distraught look on his face. "What happened?"

"Nothing-- he--" Willie gasps, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. "There's… someone else."

All three girls gasp, and then, almost like they've rehearsed it, they all simultaneously say " _what?!_ "

Willie shakes his head. "I don't know who it is, or if--"

"It's okay," Carrie says as she puts her hand on Willie's back and starts rubbing it consolingly. "It's okay, breathe."

"I just-- I saw them, and--" Willie gasps for breath and shakes his head, "I can't do it. It was stupid. He's not-- He…"

"You're not stupid," Julie says fiercely.

"It's our fault," Flynn says, "we pushed you to do this."

"Can we go?" Willie asks, sniffling softly. "I just… I don't think I can go to the show tonight."

"Absolutely," Julie replies immediately. "We'll find something else to do."

"Yeah! There's gotta be something else in this town… right?" Flynn asks hopefully.

"I think we passed a convenience store a block or two back," Carrie says as she takes hold of Willie's arm, slipping her hand into his and lacing their fingers together. "We can grab a newspaper and find out if there's a movie theater around?"

"Yes!" Flynn says as they start walking down the street, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the venue as quickly as possible. "The movies are a great idea."

"We could do a double-feature!" Julie adds. "Get some popcorn, some candy--"

"Raisinets!" Flynn counters. "You know how I feel about--"

"Yes, we'll get you some Raisinets." Julie rolls her eyes.

"How does that sound?" Carrie asks, speaking directly to Willie.

"Sounds great," he answers, his voice a little weak.

"It'll be okay," she says, laying her head on his shoulder. "I promise."

Willie doesn't answer. He swallows hard and closes his eyes for a moment, still trying to hold back tears. He feels so stupid, so naive, and he has nobody to blame but himself.

🤟🏼

"I need food that's not popcorn and _Raisinets_ ," Carrie announces as they exit the theater several hours later, giving Flynn a pointed look. The sun's long gone down and the streetlights are on, and so is the marquee above their heads.

"Which movie was your favorite?" Julie asks Willie, ignoring Carrie and Flynn as they start arguing about the quality of Raisinets as a staple theater candy.

Willie shrugs. "Casper was cool. Batman Forever was…"

"Super weird?" Julie laughs and Willie nods.

"Yeah, but it was still good."

She smiles at him, but it turns sad and he immediately knows what's coming next.

"Are you okay?" she asks quietly. Willie takes a deep breath and shrugs his shoulders.

"Still feel a little stupid," he admits. "Just… like, am I crazy?"

"No," Julie insists, "no, you're not crazy. He just hugged the guy, right? Maybe it was nothing."

"Maybe," Willie echoes halfheartedly. "Or maybe it was his boyfriend and I've been an idiot this whole time."

Julie sighs. "You can't think things like that. You should just talk to him."

"How?" Willie shifts uncomfortably. "I ran away today, I didn't even try to say hi. He probably hates me."

"He doesn't hate you," Julie replies firmly. "You were upset. He'll understand."

"Yeah," Willie says, though he doesn't really believe her. Even if the guy today was nobody, if Willie were in Alex's shoes he would think Willie was insane.

"Okay!" Carrie says, pulling Willie out of his depressing thoughts. "The guy in the ticket booth says there's a diner a couple blocks over, what do you guys think?"

"Willie?" Julie asks as she looks at him.

"Sounds good," he answers, his voice still sounding dejected.

"If they have ice cream sundaes," Flynn says as she takes Willie's arm, "we're getting you one. Load it up with hot fudge, and whipped cream, and sprinkles…"

Willie chuckles softly as Flynn starts leading him down the sidewalk as Carrie and Julie follow close behind. The diner is fairly empty when they arrive, so they opt for a corner booth in the back. Willie takes a seat with his back to the front door with Carrie next to him, while Julie slides in opposite him with Flynn next to her.

He smiles at the waitress as she hands him a menu, but it doesn't quite meet his eyes. He doesn't have an appetite, partially from how much popcorn he had during Batman Forever but mostly due to the fact that without a movie to distract him, his stomach turns with worry and guilt.

Willie knows it was a mistake to just run away. He feels worse than he did in Santa Barbara, and maybe it's justified. He ditched Alex all because he saw him _hug_ some other guy. Willie's never been jealous in his life (though, granted he's never really had a serious crush on anyone) so why is it happening now? Why can't he just act like a normal person and talk to Alex?

"They've got ice cream," Flynn singsongs as she turns her menu around to show Willie.

He cracks a small smile and nods his head.

"I could go for a sundae," he says, knowing full well he was getting one whether he wanted one or not.

They end up ordering their weight in burgers, fries, and ice cream sundaes. Carrie gets a root beer float and ends up sharing half of it with Julie, while Willie and Flynn swap spoonfuls of ice cream until they swap sundaes entirely.

Willie's actually starting to feel better about the events of this afternoon as their ridiculous meal carries on. They go back and forth between talking about it and avoiding the subject entirely, but Willie circles back around and apologizes for making them all miss the show just because he overreacted (again).

"It's okay," Carrie says as she pats his leg. "I mean, it's not like we haven't seen it, what, six times now?"

Willie snorts. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"There's still two more dates of the tour," Flynn says. "Plenty of time for you to make up for it."

"Make it up to us or to Alex?" Julie asks.

"Both," Flynn declares. "How are you going to do that, by the way?" She asks, sticking her spoon in her mouth as she hums thoughtfully.

"Uhh…" Willie sighs a little and shrugs. "Haven't gotten that far yet."

"What would you do without us?" Julie asks, rolling her eyes.

"Definitely wouldn't have made it this far," Willie replies honestly.

The girls all coo and Carrie pulls him into a hug, resting their heads together. "We love you, dork."

They swap ideas back and forth about how Willie can approach Alex tomorrow, some of them far more ridiculous than others. Flynn suggests hiring a sky writer, but it's vetoed when Julie asks how they're supposed to a. find one, and b. pay for it.

"Yes," Carrie says dryly, "because that's the biggest problem with that idea."

Flynn and Julie laugh, but it's cut short when they notice something across the diner. Willie doesn't notice the sudden change in their demeanor at first, but Carrie does. He notices it when she turns around, spinning back quickly enough that he actually gets a little worried about what they could all be staring at.

"What--" He starts to turn, but Carrie stops him.

"I think we're done, right?" she says, far too perky for the time of night.

"Yes!" Julie agrees. "We should get our bill so we can go."

"But…" Willie looks quizzically at Julie's still half-full plate, "...you're not done."

"It's fine!" She waves her hand and laughs awkwardly. "I'm not even hungry anymore."

"What are you--" Willie stops short when he turns to look at Carrie, ready to ask her why they're all suddenly acting so strange, and sees a familiar group on the other side of the diner.

The band is there, along with the group Willie saw earlier. Alex sits down in a chair next to that same guy, and Willie feels his heart break all over again.

"We should go," Carrie says softly, "right?"

"I--" Willie breathes in shakily, starting to feel panicky again. "Y-Yeah."

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick," Flynn says, her eyes focused on the table across the diner, "when I'm back, we can go."

She slides out of the booth before anyone can object, leaving Julie and Carrie to deal with Willie's latest meltdown.

"Is this the only diner in this city?" he mumbles miserably as he puts his head in his arms on top of the table. Carrie sighs sympathetically as she rubs his back, trying to seek out their waitress without drawing too much attention to herself.

The guys haven't noticed their table, and it seems like Willie isn't the only one hoping they continue in that vein. Their waitress finally comes to the table and Carrie asks for the bill, which she rips off of her little note pad and hands over without a word.

Flynn still hasn't come back by the time they've collected money to pay, and Willie's starting to get impatient.

"Maybe I'll just wait outside," he says. "They probably won't notice just me, right?"

"It might be better if we all leave together," Julie whispers. "Just, like, make a break for it."

"I think they'll notice if we run across the diner like crazy people," Carrie whispers.

"Do you have a better idea?" Julie whispers back.

"No, I'm just saying--"

"Why are you guys whispering?" Flynn asks in a perfectly normal tone of voice, suddenly appearing next to the table.

"Finally," Willie breathes out. "Can we _go_?"

"Yes, but, umm, _first_ \--" Flynn chuckles nervously, "I have, uhh, some news."

"Can't it wait?" Carrie asks pointedly.

"I think Willie will want to hear it," Flynn says, biting her lip as she looks at him. He sighs heavily, slumping down in the booth and nodding.

"What is it?" he asks as Flynn takes her seat.

"I ran into Reggie outside the bathroom," she says, pausing for a moment to gauge the reactions at their table, "and, umm, I asked about that guy."

"Flynn," Willie groans, covering his face with his hands, "why did you--"

"Because you deserve to know!" she replies. "Anyway, turns out that whole family is Reggie's aunt and uncle and their kids! That guy is Reggie's cousin! The reason he's close with Alex and the others is because he came to LA a couple months ago and stayed for like two weeks."

"So…" Julie says softly as she gives Willie a careful look, "...do you want to talk to--"

"I wanna go," Willie says. "Now."

Carrie immediately gets up, as does Flynn. Willie and Julie attempt to climb out of the booth without making any real noise, but as soon as he's on his feet Willie makes the mistake of looking across the diner.

It happens to be at the very same time that Alex glances his way, and as the two make eye contact Willie feels like his heart falls deep into the pit of his stomach and dissolves instantly. Alex opens his mouth, but before he can say anything to Willie (if he was even going to), Willie turns away and makes a beeline for the exit.

He doesn't even realize he's gasping for breath until he feels a hand on his arm, pulling him to a stop. Willie whips around and finds Carrie and the girls, staring at him with varying degrees of worry.

"It's okay," Julie says cautiously.

"It's not," Willie says with a watery laugh. "And it's all my fault."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sorry pls don't hate me](https://astorytotellyourfriends.tumblr.com/ask)


	9. Bakersfield

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HERE IT IS, THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!
> 
> (i swear. no more slow burn.) (also pls see the end note for some fun info about upcoming fics!!)

The car is practically silent on the drive down to Bakersfield the following morning. Flynn and Julie fell asleep in the backseat shortly after they got on the road, and Willie doesn't particularly feel like making conversation. Even the radio is switched off so apart from the ambient road noise there's just the sound of Carrie yawning every once in a while.

Willie had gone to bed shortly after they returned to the motel, but apparently the girls had stayed up far later into the night. Truth be told, it's partially the reason why Willie hasn't made any effort to strike up a conversation. He doesn't know what the girls talked about while he was asleep but he assumes there's more than a decent chance that it had something to do with him and the disaster he's caused for himself with Alex.

Around an hour into the drive Carrie starts sneaking glances over at Willie. Either she thinks he might be asleep or that he can't actually see her in his periphery, but it happens enough times that he figures it's probably just better to ask if she has something on her mind rather than continue being stared at in five second intervals.

"What?" he asks, sounding more dejected than annoyed.

"Nothing," Carrie says quickly as she focuses her eyes back on the road ahead of them. She blindly reaches for her to-go coffee cup near the stickshift and puts it up to her mouth, grimacing at the taste as she takes a sip.

"Then stop looking at me," Willie says as he gives her a sarcastic smile.

" _Then_ stop looking like somebody ran over your puppy," Carrie replies with the same level of snark. The smile immediately slips off Willie's face and she sighs. "Are you okay?"

He laughs humorlessly. "No."

"Okay, dumb question." Carrie sighs again. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really," he mumbles.

"It's just--" Carrie shifts in her seat, "--you went to bed right away last night so we didn't get a chance to really talk about what happened, and…"

"I was a total idiot, Carrie," Willie interrupts with an embarrassed groan. "I jumped to conclusions and totally ditched Alex and… and now? Now he probably hates me."

"He doesn't--"

"You don't know that." Willie sighs, knocking his head back against the headrest. "I'd hate me. I _do_ hate me."

Carrie stays silent for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip as she thinks carefully about what she's going to say next. Willie stares out the window at the scenery going by, feeling even worse than he had five minutes ago.

"So what are you going to do about it?" she asks. Willie chuckles dryly.

"Nothing," he answers. He props his elbow up on the door, resting his head against his knuckles. "Maybe I'll just avoid Alex completely. It's just two more days, right? And that's if we even go to the show in--"

"Now, wait just a minute," Carrie interrupts with an unimpressed scoff. "You're not going to just ignore Alex."

"Why not?"

"Because you're not a coward!"

"Says who?" Willie mumbles. Carrie reaches over and smacks him hard on the thigh and he sucks in a sharp breath. "Oww!"

"Says me!" she snaps. "You're my best friend and you're a lot of things, but a coward isn't one of them."

Willie sighs. "Okay, but--"

"But nothing," Carrie snaps again. "You're going to talk to Alex and apologize for what happened yesterday, and then you're going to _explain_ yourself."

"But--"

"And you're going to do that--" Carrie continues, steamrolling right over Willie's second interruption, "--because I think you want to tell him everything, but you're scared."

Willie drops all pretense of a fight and slumps back against his seat.

"You're scared because it's a scary thing, to pour your heart out to someone. To tell them you think about them every day and wonder if they think about you, too." Carrie's voice turns a little wistful, and suddenly Willie wonders if she's actually still talking about him and Alex. "And no matter how bad your day might get, the sound of their voice always makes you feel better. If you could just tell them how much they mean to you, then maybe every day would be even better, and brighter, and--"

Carrie stops suddenly, like she only just realized that she was rambling, and laughs nervously. Her cheeks turn pink as she clears her throat, reaching for her coffee again to give her mouth something other to do than continue spilling all of her secrets.

"So," Willie says after she's put her cup back down, "who's _your_ Alex?"

"That's not the point," Carrie deflects.

"I think it's totally the point," Willie argues.

" _No_ , this isn't about me, this is about you--"

"How am I supposed to take your advice when _you_ aren't even taking your advice?" Willie asks. Carrie turns to glare at him, and he challenges her with a smirk. She turns back to face the road and huffs irritably.

"Fine. If you must know…" She takes a deep breath and lets it out before finally admitting, "it's Julie."

"You--" Willie does a quick double-take, glancing at Julie in the backseat and then at Carrie. "You and Julie??"

"Shh!" Carrie hisses, checking in the rear view mirror to make sure Julie's still asleep. "I haven't _told_ her, you idiot."

"But… why not?"

Carrie huffs. "For the same reason why you don't want to talk to Alex." She shrugs. "I'm scared."

"But it's Julie. She's, like, the most understanding person in the world. She's not going to--"

"Not going to what?" Carrie asks. "Not going to hate me for falling in love with her? Do you really think that's what I want to hear?"

"I--"

"Worst case scenario, she doesn't feel the same and she never wants to speak to me again." Carrie sighs. "That I could probably learn to live with, over time. But if she doesn't like me back and wants to stay friends and just… pities me? That's so much worse."

Willie stays silent for a moment and then reaches across to gently take Carrie's hand. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Because saying it out loud makes it real," Carrie says. She looks over at Willie, and he sees the tears in her eyes before hears them in her voice. "And maybe I just wanted to live in the fantasy a little longer."

"Oh, Carrie."

She sniffs a little and dabs at her eyes with her other hand, securing the steering wheel with her knee so she doesn't have to let go of Willie's hand. She takes a deep breath and lets it out with a soft laugh, shaking her head as she brightens up again.

"You really know how to turn the tables, don't you?"

Willie smiles at her. "Learned from the best."

"Nice," Carrie replies with a chuckle and squeezes Willie's hand. "Will you do me a favor?"

"Of course."

Carrie turns to him with a serious look in her eyes. "Don't be like me. Tell Alex how you feel."

Willie takes a deep breath. "Okay," he answers finally, even though he has absolutely _no_ idea how he'd even start.

"Good." Carrie squeezes his hand again before letting go and putting her hand back on the steering wheel. "You can do this. Reach for the stars, or whatever."

Willie snorts. "What are you, a motivational poster?"

Carrie laughs. "Hang in there!"

"Go above and beyond!" Willie replies, joining in on her laughter.

"Walk the talk!"

"Teamwork makes the dream work!"

They continue trading ridiculous phrases back and forth until they're both nearly in tears from laughing so hard. Surprisingly, afterwards Willie does feel a whole lot better about, well, everything.

"Thanks," he tells her, "for everything."

"Of course," Carrie replies with a smile. "You know I'd do anything for you."

"Likewise," Willie answers. As Carrie stares at the road ahead, Willie shifts his gaze to the backseat. Just as he's about to turn back and face the front, Julie opens her eyes and looks right at him. Willie doesn't say a word as Julie smiles at him, putting her finger to her lips before she settles back down and closes her eyes again.

Willie turns back around and swallows hard. Not wanting to risk an accident by telling Carrie what he just saw, he keeps his mouth shut and busies himself with trying to come up with the best explanation for his behavior the night before.

As embarrassing as it might be, Willie knows that the only way out of this mess is to just tell the truth. And maybe, if he's successful in telling Alex the truth and it goes well, it'll give Carrie the confidence boost she needs to tell Julie the truth too.

🤟🏼

Willie ducks down in his seat when they drive by the venue. There's no one around outside but he still feels better having hidden, until he makes eye contact with Carrie and immediately feels foolish. He smiles sheepishly at her as he awkwardly sits back up, clearing his throat and turning towards the window to keep an eye out for a motel nearby.

After finding one, they follow the usual routine of Willie, Julie, and Flynn staying in the car while Carrie goes to check in. She comes back twenty minutes later with a set of keys and they all gather their things and start heading for the room, but halfway there Carrie stops short.

"I just remembered something," she says quickly as she passes off her bag to Willie and the room keys to Julie. "I'll be back."

"What--" Willie tries to ask her what she possibly could've forgotten, but it's too late.

"That was weird," Flynn comments as the three of them watch Carrie practically sprint back towards the lobby.

"I'm sure it won't take long," Julie says as she jingles the key in her hand. "C'mon, let's get to the room."

They get into the room, finding it not so different from the last six motel rooms they've been in, and claim their usual spaces. Despite having napped most of the car ride, Flynn immediately stretches out on one of the bed and yawns as though she hasn't slept in days.

Willie grabs the remote and turns on the TV, flicking through the channels for lack of anything better to do. As soon as Carrie comes back he figures they'll go get something to eat and then, well, he'll have to figure out once and for all what he's going to do about Alex.

Channel surfing serves as a nice distraction, even if there aren't very many channels to begin with. The longer he spends clicking through them the less time he has to sit and stew in his own thoughts.

Ten minutes go by and there's still no sign of Carrie. Willie finally settles on a marathon of The Simpsons, figuring she'll probably be back before the end of the episode. But then ten minutes turns into twenty, then thirty minutes, and soon it's been a full hour since she mysteriously ran off.

"Where is she?" Willie asks.

"You don't think something happened, do you?" Flynn asks nervously.

"Don't--" Julie smacks her lightly, "don't jump to conclusions. I'm sure she's fine."

"She's been gone an hour," Willie says. "What could she possibly be doing??"

"I--" Julie starts, but she's interrupted by a knock at the door. "Maybe that's her! Go let her in."

Willie sighs as he slides off his bed and walks over to the door, opening it without looking through the peephole. He's ready with a _where have you been_ on his tongue, but it vanishes the second the door swings back to reveal Alex.

"Hi," he says, his tone somewhat shy.

"I--" Willie gulps. "Hi. What…" he looks around and sees Carrie standing a couple feet away, "...are you doing here?"

"Well," Alex starts, but then he's interrupted by Julie and Flynn suddenly pushing their way past Willie. Flynn grabs Willie's wrist and pulls him back into the room before she runs out the door, and Julie pushes Alex in after him. She grabs the door and grins at the two of them before slamming it shut, leaving them both bewildered.

"We'll be back later!" she shouts through the door, and then there's just silence.

Alex clears his throat as he turns to face Willie, a nervous smile on his face. Willie's heart starts racing as he stares back at Alex, wishing he had some sort of explanation as to why his friends have suddenly gone insane.

"That was… interesting," Alex says, gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb. "Your friends are…"

"Totally insane," Willie says.

"Well--" Alex pauses as he tilts his head, "--yeah, no. Totally. Carrie basically kidnapped me."

"I'm sorry," Willie says with a groan. "I didn't ask her to do that, I swear."

"No, I-- I didn't think you did." Alex chuckles softly. "She's really persuasive."

Willie laughs. "Yeah."

"She kinda scares me."

"Yeah…" Willie laughs again. "Join the club."

They both go silent for a moment, and Willie fidgets awkwardly. He suddenly realizes they're just standing in the tiny hallway next to the bathroom door, so he takes a step further into the room. Alex follows suit, the two of them exchanging nervous laughter as they sit down at the foot of one of the beds.

"So…" Alex swallows hard. "Do you know why I'm here?"

"I--"

"Just… Carrie said I had to come but wouldn't tell me why." Alex shrugs. "I just… I don't get it. I thought…" he trails off and looks down at his hands.

"Thought what?"

"Well," Alex shifts uncomfortably on the bed, "when you didn't show up at the venue yesterday, I thought… you were mad at me, or something. A-And then you, like, _ran_ out of the diner and I--"

"I'm sorry," Willie says, wincing at the memory. "I'm so sorry, I just…" He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, trying to figure out the best way to properly apologize for his behavior.

"I missed you," Alex blurts out. "I-In the crowd, I mean." His cheeks flush pink as Willie looks at him and he laughs nervously. "I'm used to seeing you there, y'know? A familiar face in a crowd of strangers."

Willie swallows hard. "I'm sorry," he says again, his voice turning thick. He doesn't want to cry, he _desperately_ wants to hold it together. "It was so stupid, I'm such an idiot and I don't know-- I just did a stupid thing and I assumed…"

"Assumed what?"

Willie groans. "I thought that you… that _that guy_ was…" Willie groans again, hating the way his words are coming out. "I saw you hugging him and I just--"

"Who--" Alex blinks. "Wait, Reggie's cousin?"

"Yeah," Willie whispers.

"You thought that Reggie's cousin and I were…" Alex raises his eyebrows slightly and Willie wants to die right now. He wants the ground to swallow him up and end this horribly embarrassing moment.

"It was so stupid," he says, "I don't even know why I let it get to me or why I just assumed that you guys were…" Willie takes a breath and shakes his head. "No, that's not--"

Willie gets up suddenly, groaning in frustration as he silently curses himself. Alex watches him carefully as he paces back and forth, looking more confused than ever.

"I like you, okay?" Willie suddenly blurts out. Alex blinks. "I like you, and that's why I was a total idiot yesterday. I saw you with him and just got so insanely jealous that I just… I had to run away. And it was stupid and childish and I _hate_ that I did it because now you probably hate me and think I'm weird and like, you should! That was totally weird! But--"

"Wait, wait, Willie--" Alex tries to get him to slow down, "wait. Back up."

Willie pauses, unsure of how far back he should go. "Uhh?"

"You like me?" Alex asks. "Like… _like_ me?"

In spite of himself, Willie laughs. All of the negative emotions he was feeling a moment ago flow out of him through his laughter until he can hardly breathe.

" _That's_ what you got out of that?" he asks, fighting for air as he keeps laughing.

"I--" Alex blushes deeply and runs his hands through his hair as he stands up. "How am I supposed to focus on anything you say when you lead with _I like you_?"

Willie's breath catches in his throat as he suddenly realizes Alex is much closer to him than he was before. He's not laughing anymore as he stares at Alex, who's staring right back at him.

"I…" Willie's voice wavers, "you're not mad?"

"M-Mad? Why would I be mad? I've wanted to kiss you since--" Alex stops suddenly, clearing his throat and looking extremely embarrassed.

"Since?" Willie repeats as his heart skips a beat. He's smiling now, and he can see a smile creeping across Alex's face despite his embarrassment.

"Since…" Alex sighs, "...that first night in LA." He shrugs. "You, umm, really made an impression."

Willie snorts and tucks his hair back behind his ear. "Yeah, crashing headfirst into your drumset was part of my plan all along," he jokes.

"Well," Alex looks down at his feet as he cautiously steps forward. "Your plan worked."

"There wasn't really a plan--"

"Yeah, no, I know," Alex says, laughing as he reaches out for Willie. "Will you just kiss me already?"

Willie laughs as he steps into Alex's arms, taking Alex's face in his hands as he presses their mouths together. Alex's hands grip his waist, pulling him closer as they both moan softly into the kiss. Willie's heart feels like it's about to burst out of his chest but he has absolutely no intention of letting Alex go.

When they break apart for air, Alex presses his forehead against Willie's and laughs breathlessly.

"I like you too," he whispers, "in case that wasn't obvious."

"You should've kissed me in LA," Willie replies, smiling as he leans in for another kiss.

"Yeah--" Alex says between kisses, "I know that _now_."

"All that wasted time," Willie says, groaning softly as Alex tightens his grip on his waist.

"Well," Alex pulls back slightly, looking at Willie with hooded eyes and a weighted stare. "I don't have anywhere to be for… a while."

Willie's smile slips into a smirk. "Good."

🤟🏼

In a rare moment of respite from kissing, Willie and Alex hear a knock at the door. Neither of them particularly want to let go of the other to answer it, so they ignore it at first. Willie turns his attention back to Alex's mouth, red and swollen from all the kissing they've already done. He has every intention of initiating what's probably their thousandth kiss by now, but then there's another knock at the door and this one sounds louder than the one before.

And if that wasn't bad enough, Flynn's voice comes through a moment later.

"Have you two made up?!" she shouts. Alex snorts loudly and Willie immediately buries his head in Alex's shoulder to hide his embarrassment. "Are you making out??" Flynn shouts again, and Willie groans.

"Why are my friends so weird?" he bemoans, much to Alex's delight.

"If you're making out, knock once!" Flynn shouts. "If… you're doing... anything else, knock twice!"

"I don't think she's going away," Alex says, still laughing.

Willie groans louder as he suddenly sits up, wrenches his shoe off his foot and scoots to the edge of the bed so he can hurl it at the door. It connects with a loud sound and bounces off, falling onto the floor with a softer thud.

"Okay, one knock, got it!" Flynn taps on the door and Willie buries his face in his hands. "Uhh, have fun, be safe, we'll be out here if you need us!"

"What would they need us for??" Julie's voice comes through the door next and there's a bit of shuffling followed by muffled arguing, then blessed silence.

Willie turns back to look at Alex, feeling so incredibly self-conscious that he can hardly look him in the eye. Alex reaches out to him, beckoning Willie back into his arms as they lie back down on the bed.

"I think it's sweet," he whispers, "that they care about you so much."

"I know they mean well," Willie whispers back, "but do they have to be so…" He sighs, unable to even find the words to properly express his embarrassment.

"If the guys were here, it'd be even worse." Alex smiles at Willie and kisses his forehead. "They're never going to let me live this down."

"Live _what_ down?"

Alex groans a little, his cheeks turning pink. "Pretty sure they were going to lock us in a room together too, if Carrie hadn't done it first."

Willie snorts. "Our friends are so weird."

"Yeah…" Alex puts his hand on Willie's waist and moves his head closer so that their noses are just barely touching. "But… they got us here."

"True," Willie whispers, brushing his lips against Alex's and smiling into their kiss. "I like it here."

"Me too," Alex replies as he rolls over, pressing Willie down onto the bed as they keep kissing.

Unfortunately, they can't spend the rest of the day let alone forever in the motel room. Alex needs to get back to the venue before the show, even though it means he and Willie will have to be separated for a while. It also means they now have to be subjected to the smug smiles that the girls give them upon their exit from the room, and Willie is fairly certain his face is never not going to be red.

Carrie takes one look at their conjoined hands and gives them a proud smile.

"You're welcome," she says with a wink as she turns away and starts heading for her car. Julie and Flynn quickly follow, a trail of giggles following in their wake.

Willie groans and presses his face into Alex's shoulder, wanting nothing more than to disappear back into the bubble they had in the motel room. Alex presses a kiss to the top of his head, gently urging him to follow the others.

Carrie has to park a block or so away from the venue, and when they arrive Alex has to head straight for the rear entrance while the rest of them have to wait in the line at the front. Alex gives Willie a hug and a discreet kiss on his cheek before he leaves, and Willie simply can't stop smiling.

"Oh god," Carrie says sarcastically as she rolls her eyes, "you're going to be disgustingly happy from now on, aren't you?"

Willie shrugs. "Technically, it's your fault."

"I know," she replies with a huff.

"So…" Flynn wiggles her eyebrows. "Tell us _everything_."

Willie's relayed the whole of the afternoon - minus going into _every_ detail about just how long they spent kissing - by the time the venue doors open, and Flynn is simply beside herself with pride. Julie and Carrie are also relieved that Willie and Alex finally got their act together, but Flynn is on a whole other level.

"Okay, okay--" Julie grabs Flynn's hands to stop her from gesturing wildly as she goes on and on, "--why don't we go to the bathroom and you can give Willie a break?"

"Right. Okay. Yes. To the bathroom!"

Willie snickers as Julie and Flynn head off across the venue, and he turns to Carrie with a smile. She looks back at him expectantly and a slightly awkward smile inches across her face the longer he looks at her.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Ugh." She shoves his shoulder. "You're so gross now that you're all happy."

"You could be happy too," he teases, bumping her shoulder with his own. "If you'd just tell--"

"Shh!" she hisses. "I did not tell you about me and Julie for you to turn it around on me!"

"Okay, okay," Willie holds his hands up in defeat and Carrie sighs in satisfaction. "I'm just saying…"

Carrie glares at him.

"I followed your advice," he says pointedly, "maybe it's time you did, too."

Carrie sighs heavily, and her eyes wander over to the bathrooms. Julie and Flynn haven't come out yet, but when she turns back to Willie he gestures towards them encouragingly.

"Fine!" Carrie says, stomping her foot a little as she storms off towards the bathrooms. She hovers awkwardly around the door, pacing back and forth until Julie and Flynn emerge.

Willie can't hear the conversation, but Carrie grabs Julie and pulls her off to the side while Flynn continues on her way back to Willie. She turns around once when she realizes that Julie isn't following her anymore, but Willie manages to grab her before she can interrupt.

"What's going on?" she asks, but Willie shushes her.

"Just wait," he hisses.

"Is-- What--" Flynn's eyes widen. "Oh my god, oh my god!"

"Shh!" Willie says, clapping his hand over Flynn's mouth as they continue to watch the scene between Julie and Carrie unfold in front of them.

Just when Carrie looks like she's about to faint, Julie suddenly grabs her and kisses her. Flynn practically screams, thankfully muffled by Willie's hand over her mouth. She pushes his hand away a moment later and throws her arms around him in a hug.

"You did it!" she cries. "You did it! You parent-trapped them!!"

"I still don't know what that means," Willie replies, hugging her back.

"It doesn't matter!" Flynn says. "You did it!"

"Did what?" Flynn and Willie turn around to see Reggie standing next to them with a smile on his face. He looks at them and then his eyes wander over to Carrie and Julie, who are very much still kissing. "Hey, is that…?"

"Willie parent-trapped them!" Flynn says excitedly.

"You--" Reggie gasps. "Dude! Nice!" He holds out his hand for Willie to high-five and he does, although somewhat reluctantly. "I was just coming over to congratulate you on finally putting Alex out of his misery."

"Thanks?" Willie replies with a laugh.

"But parent trapping? Wow." Reggie shakes his head in amazement.

"Right?" Flynn says, sounding far too proud of herself for Willie's liking. "I can't believe he pulled it off."

"I wanna parent trap somebody," Reggie says, raising his eyes up to the ceiling as he thinks it over in his head.

"Will one of you actually explain this to me?" Willie asks, looking back and forth between Reggie and Flynn.

"Yeah, later," Flynn says, waving her hand dismissively.

"I've got it!" Reggie snaps his fingers. "I know who I can parent trap."

"Who??" Flynn asks.

"You'll see," he replies with a smirk. "Don't worry."

Willie scoffs out a laugh and shakes his head. "Shouldn't you, like, be getting ready to perform?"

"What?" Reggie turns to him with a smile, and then the realization hits. "Oh. Right."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> with this fic coming to an end (just one more chapter!), i've decided to share a poll (of sorts) with you guys about some of the fic ideas i have! [you can find it by clicking here](https://forms.gle/yox6CQjfFkjw349fA), and please note that it will require you to sign into google because i've limited the responses to cut down on spam. ALSO this list doesn't include the two fics that i'm going to start posting in february, as i want them to be a surprise :)
> 
> i'll keep the poll open until february 5th! i'll link it again in the last chapter, in case you miss it this time.


	10. Los Angeles Pt III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i can't believe we're at the end! this fic has been so much fun to write and i've loved seeing everyone's reactions to it. thanks for sticking with me through the slow burn :)
> 
> i mentioned this in the last chapter, but in case you missed it - [i created a poll about my new fic ideas!](https://forms.gle/43ozGPmfNE1BfHoL6) check it out if you'd like a sneak peek at my upcoming work.
> 
> also! i created a playlist for this fic, which you can find [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0FWhOLd5aO6ZJ5G104xczg?si=QEwPrtguR5iAWlw118-OAw). (this is totally something i'm going to continue to do with my other fics, so feel free to follow the spotify account if you want!)
> 
> anyway, enjoy and thanks for coming on this crazy lil tour with me <3

Coming home feels different. As soon as they're within the city limits of Los Angeles, Willie starts getting mixed feelings. It's the end of an adventure, filled with excitement and anxiety and everything in between. It feels weird to know that at the end of the night he'll go back to his parents' house and sleep in his own bed and life will just… continue.

Granted, now he has a hot boyfriend in a band, but even that still feels surreal to him. It's almost like the last few days were a fever dream and any minute he's going to wake up and find out it wasn't real at all.

They swing by Carrie's house to drop off all of their stuff, mainly because her dad isn't going to be home. If they went to any of the other three's houses, they'd probably be waylaid by parents asking how the trip was and they'd never make it to the Orpheum for the last show.

It's mid-afternoon when they park at some sketchy garage a block or two away from the venue, a feat that Carrie is absolutely not impressed by. But when she starts to complain, Julie takes her hand and presses a kiss to her cheek, immediately shutting Carrie up as she blushes.

"That's a good trick," Flynn mumbles to Willie.

"Should've parent trapped them years ago," Willie mumbles back to Flynn's great delight.

"See? Now you get it." She pats his shoulder proudly. "Next movie night, we're totally watching it."

Willie laughs as he shakes his head. "If you say so."

When they arrive at the venue, they immediately go around to the alley along the side and make their way to the rear entrance. Alex is there to meet them, and he pulls Willie into a hug almost instantaneously.

Willie can hear the tittering of the girls behind him as he presses a kiss to Alex's cheek, but he doesn't even care. Alex's cheeks turn slightly pink as he pulls away, and it takes everything in Willie not to just push him back against the wall and kiss him for the rest of time.

"Here," Alex says as he pulls out some passes from his pocket. "This way you guys can hang out with us inside," he explains as he hands them out to the girls, saving one for Willie to give to him last.

"Sick," Willie says as he looks down at it with a smile. "So official."

Alex shrugs bashfully as he blushes even more. "It's the last night of the tour, so…" He shrugs. "I wanted to make it special."

"You guys are _so cute_ ," Flynn says with a dreamy sigh, "I think I'm going to vomit."

Julie elbows her sharply and Flynn glares in return, while both Willie and Alex laugh. Willie can't really blame her; in just two days she unwillingly became the third wheel to both him and Alex _plus_ Julie and Carrie.

"C'mon, I'll show you guys around," Alex says as he takes Willie's hand and opens the stage door. He holds it open for the girls to pass through first, and when Willie goes to walk through, Alex surprises him by pulling him in for a proper kiss.

"Wow, umm," Willie breathes out a laugh, feeling suddenly lightheaded.

"Missed you," Alex whispers, brushing his lips against Willie's with one more kiss before he ushers him through the stage door.

They end up in the green room after a cursory tour of the backstage area. There's a flurry of people roaming around which makes it a little difficult for a full tour of the venue, so Alex suggests that they just find a place to chill for a while so they're not in the way.

Reggie's all by himself in the green room, sitting in an armchair with his bass guitar and playing random notes when the five of them shuffle in through the door. His face lights up when he sees them and he gets to his feet, throwing his arms open wide in greeting.

"Welcome!" he says proudly. "This is the green room!" He puts his hands on his hips as he looks around and then adds, in a conspiratorial stage whisper, "it's not really green, though, is it?"

Alex sighs heavily and pinches the bridge of his nose while Willie stifles a laugh. The girls walk further into the room and claim one of the couches as their own, Flynn opting for the seat closer to Reggie as she quietly but firmly tells him to sit back down before he hurts himself.

"Where are Luke and Bobby?" Alex asks as he and Willie take the other couch. Alex stretches his arm out along the back of the couch, draping his hand on Willie's shoulder as they sit close together.

"Dunno," Reggie answers with a shrug. "They've been gone a while though."

"They do like to disappear on you," Willie teases lightly as he knocks his knuckles against Alex's knee.

"They better not be getting into trouble," Alex says with a sigh as he curls his hand around Willie's. "Tonight's big for us."

"I'll go find them," Reggie offers, setting his bass aside as he gets up.

"I'll come with," Flynn says, bouncing up from her seat on the couch. "Please don't leave me alone with the couples," she whispers to Reggie as she grabs his arm.

They disappear through the door, leaving the two couples alone in the green room. Willie suddenly feels a little nervous, even though he's like ninety percent sure nothing is going to happen while Julie and Carrie are around.

Truth be told, they didn't even seem to notice when Flynn and Reggie left. They're wrapped up in their own conversation, a whole world that doesn't involve anyone but the two of them. Willie doesn't even realize he's staring at them with a fond smile until he hears Alex's voice in his ears.

"I'm glad you're here," he whispers, sending a shiver down Willie's spine.

"Yeah?" Willie turns his head, and Alex presses their foreheads together as he smiles at Willie.

"Yeah," he replies. He squeezes Willie's hand and chuckles under his breath. "It's kinda weird, though, right? Like, tomorrow we go back to normal life."

"Totally weird," Willie agrees. "I'm gonna miss it."

"Me too." Alex taps their hands against his knee and sighs as he tucks his head into the crook of Willie's neck. "Kinda wish it hadn't taken us so long to, y'know."

Willie's cheeks turn pink and he laughs. "Yeah, me too. But, umm, my parents are cool so like, you could probably come over whenever you wanted, and…" Willie's entire face feels like it's burning as he stammers to get the rest of his thought out, "...if you wanted to like, stay over, it would probably be okay…"

Alex stays quiet for a moment and Willie starts to regret even putting the idea out there.

"You're not out, right?" he asks softly. "Like, to your parents?"

"No," Willie admits with a shake of his head.

"It's okay," Alex says, brushing his lips against Willie's jaw. "I'm not either, so you don't have to feel bad."

"Okay," Willie exhales deeply, still feeling a little embarrassed.

"I like your idea," Alex goes on, "about staying over."

"Yeah?" Willie's skin prickles under Alex's touch, and he leans into it.

"Yeah," Alex whispers, "we'll just have to be quiet."

Willie shivers as he turns to kiss Alex, unable to hold himself back any longer. It's definitely too much too fast, especially given their current company, but Alex responds to it immediately like he's been aching to do the same thing.

They're shortly interrupted by the door to the green room bursting open again and Reggie practically shouting for their attention with Flynn close behind.

"You are _never_ going to believe what we just saw!" she says, but she's quickly overshadowed by Reggie.

"I told you guys I was going to parent trap them and I _did_!" he shouts proudly. "I did it!"

"What are you even talking about?" Carrie asks, staring at Reggie like he's grown an extra head. He rushes further into the room with a wild look in his eyes, absolutely bursting with excitement.

"We just saw… Bobby and Luke…" Reggie pauses to do a quick drumroll on his thighs and Alex groans. "Making! Out!"

He ends with a flourish and grins widely at everyone in the room. Their stunned silence is clearly not the response he was expecting, judging by the way his shoulders slump when a minute or two goes by without anyone saying anything.

"Did you hear me?" he asks, glancing around. "I said--"

"No, we heard you," Alex interrupts. "It's just… I'm having a hard time," he gestures to his head, "wrapping my brain around it?"

"It _does_ make sense when you think about it," Julie says. "All that fighting was bound to lead _somewhere_."

"Oh, they're definitely still fighting," Flynn says, "now it's just with kissing, too."

"See?" Reggie crosses his arms and smirks proudly. "Totally parent trapped."

"Exactly _how_ were you involved in this?" Carrie asks, immediately popping Reggie's proud bubble.

"I--" he stammers. "Well, you see--"

"It's okay," Flynn says as she comes to his defense, patting his shoulder. "You'll get the next one."

🤟🏼

The floor is packed with people when it's time for Sunset Curve's set. Willie and the girls make their way into the crowd as it buzzes with excitement. It's by far the largest crowd they've played to on the tour and it makes sense, given that they're back home. But it feels different, more important, and Willie feels special for being a part of it.

He grasps Carrie's hand and squeezes it as the lights go down, and she squeezes back like she knows he needs a little boost right at that moment. Willie takes in a deep breath as the lights come up as the guys take the stage, breathing out slowly before he starts cheering along with the rest of the crowd.

It's the best they've ever played. Every note, every beat is _perfect_. It's the kind of show that, as a fan, Willie always hopes for. For a musician, it's the kind of show you wish you could bottle up and reproduce at a moment's notice. The energy in the room is electrifying and addicting and Willie wants to live in this moment forever.

Until, of course, about halfway through the set Luke announces that they're going to perform a cover. He turns around and looks directly at Alex, asking him to introduce it, and Willie's heart stops.

Carrie grips his arm, her nails digging into his skin, but Willie hardly notices. His eyes are fixed on Alex, who suddenly seems super nervous.

"This is, umm, dedicated to someone here tonight who's…" Alex clears his throat and laughs awkwardly as someone in the crowd randomly cheers, "...very special to me."

"Aww," Flynn squeals as she turns around to look at Willie.

He tries to smile at her, but it's a little hard when he feels like he might pass out. Why didn't Alex say he was going to do this? Willie would've told him not to, even if he's not _actually_ calling Willie out by name. This is too much.

Julie leaves Carrie's side to take Willie's other hand, holding it tight like she can read his mind and knows he's ten seconds away from trying to bolt.

"It's, umm, by Alanis Morissette," Alex continues, drawing more cheers from the crowd. "I know, right?" He laughs. "Luke's obsessed with her."

"Because she's _awesome_ ," Luke interrupts. Reggie laughs and Bobby rolls his eyes, and the humorous glances between them lessens Willie's panic a bit.

He thinks back to when Luke and Bobby were performing _You Oughta Know_ and he lets out a shaky breath, not having considered that maybe this isn't as big of a deal as he's making it out to be. If anything, he hopes they've learned the words by now.

But they don't play _You Oughta Know_ , as Willie soon discovers. He doesn't recognize it as Luke sings the first verse, but by the time the chorus hits and Alex joins in along with Reggie and Bobby, it doesn't even matter that he doesn't know the song. The meaning is staring him right in the face.

_You've already won me over, in spite of me_

_Don't be alarmed if I fall head over feet_

_Don't be surprised if I love you for all that you are_

_I couldn't help it, it's all your fault_

By the end of the song, Willie's smile is so big it's actually starting to hurt a little. Where there were nerves before, now only love exists. It's been hardly two days since they first kissed and Willie already knows it for sure: he's totally in love with Alex.

Still, it's a relief when they launch into another original song after the cover is finished, and the crowd goes right back into its manic energy from before. Willie loses himself in the feeling, trying not to concentrate on how badly he wants to kiss Alex right now. There'll be plenty of time for that when the show is over, and hopefully for a long time after.

"Thank you!" Luke shouts into his microphone at the end of their last song. "We're Sunset Curve!"

"Tell your friends!" Reggie shouts.

"Good night!" Luke says, grinning widely as they all take a bow.

The crowd goes on cheering for them long after they've left the stage, even after the house lights come up and the venue starts playing music over the speakers. Most of the crowd stays right where they are, considering there's still another few bands on the bill, but Willie starts feeling restless almost immediately.

"You wanna go find Alex, don't you?" Carrie asks with a smirk.

"Maybe," he says, blushing when Carrie rolls her eyes at him.

"I vote yes," Flynn says, "but first, I definitely need to hit the ladies' room."

"Oh, me too!" Julie groans as she grabs Flynn's hand. "You guys stay here, okay?"

"Okay," Carrie replies happily as Julie and Flynn disappear into the crowd. She turns back to Willie, who's turned the tables on her with a knowing grin. "What?"

"And you think _I'm_ bad?"

"Shut up," she says as she punches Willie's shoulder. "You should've seen your face when Alex was talking. I thought you were going to faint."

Willie groans. "He didn't tell me he was going to do that."

"I thought it was cute," Carrie answers with a shrug. "But you guys are definitely worse than me and Julie, hands down."

"I, umm," Willie blushes and laughs bashfully, "I might've invited him over to my house. To, like, stay over?"

Carrie gasps and hits his shoulder again. "You did what?!"

"I just--"

"Tell me everything!"

🤟🏼

Carrie insists on Willie repeating everything to Julie and Flynn when they return from the bathrooms, which means it takes them even more time to go backstage than Willie would like. At this point he's seriously considering just going by himself, but that would probably not end well for him in the long run.

The funny thing is, when they finally _do_ meet up with the guys backstage in the green room, both Willie and Carrie immediately wish they'd wasted a little bit more time. Because when they find the guys, they're not alone.

"Dad??" Carrie blurts out, realizing a moment later that what she absolutely should've done was _hide_ rather than draw attention to herself.

Caleb does a double-take when he realizes it's his daughter standing nearby, along with her three best friends. Willie stays perfectly still, as do Julie and Flynn.

"Carrie? I--" Caleb chuckles as he steps away from the guys and towards Carrie in particular. "What are you doing here? I thought you were on a college tour."

"I was! I am!" Carrie laughs awkwardly. "I, umm, well, you see--"

"What are you doing _here_?" Caleb asks again, eyeing the backstage pass attached to Carrie's shirt. "Are you--" He starts to turn back towards the guys, who are all doing a valiant effort of making it look like they're not listening.

"No!" Carrie yells. "Dad!"

"What?! What am I supposed to think, finding my teenage daughter backstage with--"

"Oh my god," Carrie interrupts, laughing like she can't believe what he's saying. "First of all, I'm 18! Second of all, I'm a lesbian!" She suddenly grabs Julie. "Remember Julie?"

"Hi…" Julie says with an awkward wave.

"Yes, hello, Julie." Caleb smiles, but then quickly turns back to Carrie. "What does--"

"She's my girlfriend," Carrie says succinctly. Julie's eyes go wide as she turns to look at Carrie, who momentarily falters and mouths _sorry_.

Caleb, to his credit, only looks stunned for a moment. Flynn's got both hands covering her face but is peeking out through her fingers, and Willie is holding his breath and hoping that whatever's about to happen isn't as bad as he fears it could be.

"Oh, thank god," Caleb says with a heavy breath, laughing as Carrie's face instantly turns to utter confusion.

"What??"

Willie nearly loses it, barely managing to cover his mouth with his hands to muffle the sound of his laughter.

"I mean--" Caleb chuckles. "Obviously we're going to have to talk about what you were _really_ doing for the past week, but at least I know you weren't doing it for a boy."

"I…" Carrie blinks. "Okay?"

"Gentlemen," Caleb says as he spins around to face the guys. To their credit, they only flinch a little. (And it's mostly Reggie, anyway.) "You have my card, let me know your decision soon, yes?"

They all nod, and Caleb turns back to the others. "So, Julie. Tell me more about this relationship between you and my daughter."

He starts leading the two of them out the door, which is an absolutely hilarious sight given that Carrie looks like she's about to vomit and Julie looks a mix of downright petrified and possibly murderous as well.

"Well," Flynn says as they turn a corner and disappear from view. "That was… interesting."

"I'm sorry, what the hell just happened?" Alex asks.

"That's… Carrie's dad," Willie says.

"Yeah, no, I got that." Alex runs his hand through his hair. "Why didn't you tell us Carrie's dad worked for a record company?"

"Oh, uhh," Willie looks at Flynn and shrugs, "it didn't come up?"

"Does it really matter?" Reggie says before Alex can say anything else. "Dude just offered us a _record deal_!"

"What?!" Flynn and Willie say together, and instantly the drama from five minutes ago is forgotten as they all start shouting excitedly. It's a blur of hugs and congratulations, but Willie finally finds his way into Alex's arms and holds onto him tightly.

"So what does this mean?" he asks, and Alex laughs softly.

"I, uhh, don't really know? I mean, we have a couple days to think about it but like, we'd be nuts not to take it, right?"

"I mean, yeah?" Willie shrugs. "I don't know, man, it's totally up to you guys." He bites his bottom lip and takes hold of Alex's hand. "I'm not surprised, though, you guys were amazing tonight."

"Yeah?" Alex blushes a little as he starts swinging their conjoined hands back and forth. "The, umm, cover wasn't too much?"

"It, uhh," Willie laughs nervously, "it was a lot, but no. Not too much."

"Good," Alex breathes out, "I didn't want to like, overwhelm you or anything, but like…" He shrugs. "It felt kinda perfect."

Willie glances at the others, who are too busy being wrapped up in their own excited conversation with Flynn to be concentrating on Alex and Willie at the moment, and then turns back to Alex with a smile.

He leans in and presses a kiss to Alex's mouth, soft and chaste and quick. Alex tucks Willie's hair behind his ear as he pulls away, smiling widely as he takes Willie's other hand and holds them both tightly.

"So…" he says, clearing his throat, "have you decided where you're gonna go to school?"

Willie laughs. "I dunno. UCLA could be cool…" He wiggles his eyebrows. "Close to home, you know? Lot of things to love about LA."

"Definitely," Alex says. "Can't beat the music scene, right?"

"Yeah," Willie says, laughing again. "I've heard a lot about this one band that just got a record deal…" He tilts his head. "They're pretty good."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, I might be biased though. My boyfriend's the drummer."

Alex's eyes sparkle as he leans in to kiss Willie again. "He's a lucky guy," he whispers against Willie's mouth.

Willie rolls his eyes as he loops his arms around Alex's neck, dragging him close as they kiss. Their private moment is soon interrupted by the others demanding that they stop making out and join in on the celebration, but it's okay. Alex doesn't let go of Willie's hand all night.

No matter what their futures hold, they'll go through it together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just fyi...... there's gonna be a sequel..... and a spinoff. (not necessarily in that order)
> 
> :D <3

**Author's Note:**

> [my tumblr](http://astorytotellyourfriends.tumblr.com)


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